The Lesser of Evils
by LoLGoau
Summary: After a grueling month of lose and bloodshed, the hamlet's most veteran and strongest heroes are falling apart at the seams and into ever deepening depression. The only hope for the continued battle are those on the stagecoach, but there is only one. Her intentions and methods will test the heroes as though they have never been before. Rated M for later.
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

_Character: Ebony_

 _Building: Mess Hall_

 _Upgrade material: Bodies of the fallen_

 _Provisions: Stress generating food that heal more, items to make enemies afraid or scared, and higher food stacks._

 _ **Author's Note: It's been awhile, but I've been inspired by this awesome game to write again. Red Hook... you've made such a fun game.**_

* * *

Battered, bloodied, and barely able to get to their weekly duties, the townsfolk of the hamlet were in desperate need of fresh soldiers to hold back the rising horrors trickling out of the mansion and corrupting the surrounding areas.

The beastly swine and their gluttonous lords have taken to raiding our farms for the workers; filling their stomachs with our own as they still scream for help within the Warrens. The last decent vessel to return from a successful fishing voyage to the Cove did so with hooded fishfolk testing the dry lands for their own uses, only to be trampled after startling the horses within the stables; finding our beasts only slightly kinder than those of the Weald.

Finally, there are the Ruins, our tombs and burials of our former leaders, and the Courtyard, no longer the place of nobles and dances but now of blood drinkers and their pets. These places mirror perfectly the hamlet's tale, as well as my own. We were once something to be proud of, but now we can only hope it ends quickly.

However, there is still hope; bleak though it may be. The latest escapade into the Weald has cleared the way for the stagecoach to bring in our newest champions and the shields of the common folk.

With any semblance of luck, they will be the fated to safe those that remain from the terrors we endure and raise the spirits of rest who yet still fight.

The stagecoach drew to a halt, and the care taker, as pre-usual, took his choice of dwellings to rest; taking the place of a hero to relieve his own stress within the brothel. The poor, old man dared the treacherous journey every week after only a day's rest, knowing full well that his death could come at any time on those lonely, perilous roads.

Even with the improvements made, the extra carts for more champions, stronger horses to speed their journey along, and better equipment for the wagon itself, the roads are dangerous to traverse when bandits can setup traps days in advance to catch the wary and focused alike.

The door opened... but only one stepped out. Neither human nor monster, this creature of ivory-white skin and short stature was to be an invaluable ally to the hamlet and the estate... though her intentions and methods were only slightly better than that of the foe we would have to face soon.

* * *

Ebony stepped out of the stagecoach with a smile on her face. She wore little, an apron under a set of creaking leather armor wore over form-fitting cotton clothes for protection and comfort, and she was armed with only three knives on a belt around her waist. Her feet were free of confines, allowing them to be seen easily and her three-toed talons, like hands ready to grip, at the ready. Her ears, while large, drooped slightly over her head, and her large eyes seemed to take in everything she saw.

She licked her lips as though in anticipation. She was eager to get to work, but first she would need supplies.

* * *

She started toward the tavern, where the caretaker had entered, and was immediately introduced to most of the living heroes of the hamlet; a total of seven by her count.

A jester by the name of Yorick preformed an act with the assistance of Jericho, a man skilled in the occult, to dazzled and impress the drunken patrons, led by a hellion by the name of Agatha, in a song of slurred words and unintelligent phrases.

In a corner of the room, a crusader had removed his helmet to drink a large mug of mead, flanked by two vestals and an arbalest between them and the rest; their names were Reynold the crusader, vestal sisters Marin and Mina, and Triss with her crossbow at her side. The three religious warriors seemed to in distress while the bow user watched the crowd on their behalf.

Ebony moved through the crowd with the grace of a child dancer, swaying between the people and even stealing a morsel of food to sample from a table as she made her way toward the barkeeper.

She took a bite of the meat bun, and her smile immediately fell only to return when she stopped at the counter. "What's the occasion for the party?" She asked as she placed the half-eaten meat bun, one bite from her, on the chair next to the one she climbed into.

She never saw her size as a disadvantage with the exception of times like this where she had to climb otherwise simple obstacles.

The barkeeper looked at her, at first with surprise at her looks, but then causal when he took note of her armor and the belt of weapons. "Elina is at the Sanitarium. I'd recommend you speak with her before going out." He began, and then turned to prepare a mug of mead. "The farmers have pulled their crops together for feast to celebrate the return of our heroes from the Warrens and remember the sacrifice of our fallen." He informed, and then placed the mug in front of her. "Your drink, ma'am."

Ebony accepted the mug with a nod and a smile, reaching to pay with a gold piece until the barkeeper shook his head; quietly informing her that that was unnecessary. She took a sip, and then growled and stuck her tongue out with displeasure. "I think I'd prefer water, if you please." She asked as she pushed the mug toward him. "Who is Elina?" She asked.

"Not a fan of the mead?" The barkeeper asked; seeming to be more curious than upset.

"I prefer water, juice, and milk, actually. Ale and mead have always tasted more like their products to me." She informed.

He pushed the mug back to her and made a sidelong smile. "Not even we locals drink the water here. Believe me, you're best off with this unless you want to build your own purifier." He said.

Ebony frowned and looked back at her mug of unwanted mead. She took it in both of her small hands and pulled it toward herself cautiously; as if it might attack her. "I'm Ebony, by the way." She said.

The man nodded. "Elina is our most recent veteran graverobber. Along with Micheal and his hound, that blood-crazed Alexander, and Mina, she slew the bandits and dismantled their oversized cannon, a Brigand 8-Pounder I think, that threatened the roads. If not for those four, you'd still be waiting for the caretaker and his stagecoach to come down the path of wherever you came from." He informed before turning and walking into the back.

When he returned, he had with him a small loaf of bread with rice baked in. He offered it to her. "Eat this, you'll need to built some muscle if you want to be of help here."

She accepted the bread and took a bite. She chewed and swallowed before speaking. "At least your baking is decent." She said; her smile returned. "Who died? I'm guessing they meant something to the people over there." She said with a tilt of her head.

"Barristan and Junia, friends of Reynold, Dismas's bodyguard." He replied without looking over. "The three of them, and Triss over there, went into the Warrens to gather stolen supplies and avenge the farmers killed by the pigmen. Because those two gave their lives, we can eat the rest of this month and half of the next." The barkeep said with a sober but grateful tone. "What's worse is their fate... Mina was the one who last saw what was left of them... when she went to pay her final respects."

She turned her head to the four, and then locked her eyes with those of the arbalest. "That one? Triss?" She asked without looking away.

"Triss was close to Barristan. The two of them fought in the last war together. I think she was a raider before he knocked some justice into her." He said.

"Hmm." She hummed, and then finally broke the lock. She closed her eyes, put the bread in her mouth, and jumped off of the stool. "Well, I guess I'll go see this Elina." She then turned to the barkeeper and waved. "Thanks for the food. Keep a room open for me tonight."

She left the tavern and immediately found the Sanitarium no more than 30 yards away. It seemed a fair enough distance, and she knew it was a good idea for such a building to be equal distance and close to the tavern and the chapel in case of food poisoning or injury.

As she approached, she saw two men, one with a dagger and pistol holstered at his sides and the other walking toward a dog, signaling it to follow with a pat, leaving the building. They were following a trail of blood leading between the Sanitarium and the chapel, but then they turned toward the gated graveyard.

Upon entering the makeshift hospital, she saw the tale-tell signs of a dragging into one of the rooms. Blood from the door, a slight pool in front of the desk, and bloody prints from the victim recovering enough to move.

There was no one present, the staff possibly one or two people, but she did notice a mop and bucket of water in the corner behind the desk.

Ebony never was one to sit idle for too long, and, without a designated cooking area, she decided to help out a little by mopping the blood; it was an unsanitary sight to her anyway. Had to been collected and stored, it would be a more enticing sight.

When she was nearly finished, she heard the door open and a female figure stepped out. She wore a blue dress with long sleeves and a head cover over her head; reminding her much of what a nun would look like.

The woman took immediate notice of Ebony and, after a brief look around, went to the desk. "Are you here for treatment?" She began as she took hold of a notebook. "If so, there is already someone in the ward undergoing treatment of the mind." She informed with a somewhat harsh tone.

"Is it a graverobber named Elina?" Ebony asked as she continued and finished cleaning, and then turned her head to speak to the nurse. "I take it Alexander is here too?" She asked with a smile.

The blue-dress nurse nodded her head. "The man is powerful, but he believes the only way to unleash that power is to bleed himself. After much trouble, his friends were finally able to get him into the chair... it's just a shame I cannot operate until the morning."

Ebony tilted her head and put a finger to her lower lip. "I'm pretty good with making incisions. If you'd like, I could cut the tendons of his arms, and try to reattach them. It's worked a few times." She said with a smile.

The nurse stared at her for a moment, brushing the hair from her face as she did, and then smiled; it did not seem natural or common for her to do so. "Only if you have a plan B in case you cannot." She said.

"I've fixed clubs and spikes to arms before. What weapons does he use? I could replace his arms with flails if he's so adamant about hurting himself and his enemies." Ebony offered with a stifled giggle.

The nurse covered her face with her left hand, chuckling silently and trying not to laugh, and then, when she had herself under control, turned around and gestured for Ebony to follow. "Come. Elina's treatment is over anyway. I was just about to clean up when I noticed you."

Elina had been brought in to undergo treatment that would remove a disease, and, by the look of the full leeches, the process had been a success, but the loss of blood appeared to have put her in a daze of sorts.

"Are they off now?" The graverobber asked when she heard the door stop moving and without looking toward them or the leeches on her arm.

The nurse walked over to the woman and began removing the leeches from her arm, placing them into a jar as she did with careful, practice hands. "I am doing so now, but you have an apprentice here to see you." She said with a rare smile. "For once, it's one I hope to see for conversation and not work." She added.

The graverobber did not open her eyes or turn her head toward either of the other two women. "Who else came with her?" She asked.

"Just me." Ebony said cheerfully. "I don't know why I was told to meet you, but the barkeeper told me to." She replied.

Elina startled, shaking momentarily like she had been shocked, at the words, forcing the nurse to step back, and sat up with a glare. "What did you- ugh!" She started, but then nearly fell out of the bed before the nurse caught her. "Just one? And a knife-thrower to boot..." She managed to mumble.

Ebony blinked her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not a knife-thrower." She said.

Both the nurse and the graverobber looked at her then, and her smile grew.

"I'm a cook."

* * *

 _ **List of characters:** Reynold (crusader), Dismas (highwayman), Yorick (jester), Agatha (hellion), Marin (vestal), Jericho (occultist), Christ (abomination), Alexander (flagellant), Triss (arbalest), Micheal (houndmaster), Elina (graverobber), and Mina (vestal)_


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Dismas

_**Author's Note: If I'm mistaking in the city building or character descriptions, please let me know. Also, I forgot to include this: the tier one necromancer, brigade pounder, and swine prince have all been killed, the Cove has been initially explored, the hamlet is being plagued by insects from the courtyard but are being warded for the time being with smoke, and all 'buildings' are available. For the purposes of this story, I am not writing events in exact order.**_

 ** _Thank those of you following and reading for taking the time, and I hope you are enjoying the story._**

* * *

"A cook? A COOK!?" Elina shouted as she laid down on the bed with her hand over her eyes. "We don't need a cook. We need more fighters!" She said with a frustrated tone.

The nurse stood in the corner of the room, near the door, and watched the two as they spoke. She had busied herself for a time by cleaning her tools of trade, but, when Elina was recovered enough to speak, she stopped and went to the corner to give them their space.

Ebony, in contrast to Elina, remained as calm and casual as before. "From what I've seen and heard, there are eleven fighters here already, but, even with this food boon, moral is low." She began, stating what she knew. "As a cook, I can make home-style meals to the best of my abilities. Don't you think you'd be more willing to risk your life if you just had a nice steak dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

The graverobber leaned her head up to look at the shorter creature; a look of curiosity on her face. "That... does sound tempting..." She said before she leaned her head back again.

A moment later, Elina shook her head. "I tore my rotatory cuff last week fighting bandits." She began, returning to business. "I can't go back out again for another two weeks, at least. Can you fight if you had to? Can your wield a sword or shield in place of those little knives?" She asked.

The smaller creature answered immediately. "I am not a fighter, but I do know how to bleed livestock for preparation." She replied, and then took out one of her knives; holding it in her hands and showing it to the human. "This, I can use as well as my own hands, if that answers your question."

Elina let out a groan. "You may as well be one of those collectors... always tagging along and demanding protection."

Ebony looked at her knife, turning it in her fingers. "I'm not interested in monetary wealth. Supplies are needed for my craft, and money does make attaining them easier, but, as long as I can prepare meals and keep my patrons full, I can ask for not." Ebony replied, keeping her tone causal and easy. "However," she began, looking up again, "I would like to learn how to throw a knife. It would make catching jumping fish much easier." She added.

Elina took a deep breath, and then let it out in a sigh; she sounded tired. "Find and talk to Dismas. He's the man I, and the others, work for. If he will let you stay, and he tells me himself, I'll teach you how to throw a knife. If not, do not talk to me again." She said and put her arm over her head. "I'm tired right now. Can the two of you leave... please?"

Ebony curtsy and turned to leave the room, but waited inside the main room for the nurse. When she entered, Ebony gestured that she wanted to talk. "Where can I find Lord Dismas? Does he have a favorite place he goes?" She asked.

The nurse took a seat behind her desk and put her head in her hand. "He may be at the graveyard, helping re-bury Barristan and Junia." She said.

"The barkeeper talked a little about those two. What happened after they died?" Ebony asked.

"The Collector came in the dead of night the other day, when Lord Dismas was at the bar and Master Reynold was in the cloister. You're new here, so you wouldn't know this, but The Collector is a creature that steals the heads, often ripping their spines out in the process, of the fighters, heroes, soldiers, and the fallen; however we call them. I do not know the details, but he seems to have been tracking those two for some time." The nurse replied before adjusting her seating. "It is a tall creature in a yellow robe with its skull locked in a cage, and that is all I know. To think one of those eldritch monsters would venture into the hamlet only shows how close we are to losing everything we still have."

Ebony seemed more interested in this creature than afraid of it. "Oh! I'd love to meet this Collector sometime." She said with a whimsical smile.

"I would not recommend trying to talk with it... unless you are fine with having your head ripped off your small shoulders." The nurse informed with a monotone expression. "You should find Lord Dismas before the day ends. I need to make a list of supplies to give him as well."

The nurse's words reminded her of something she had meant to ask earlier. "I'm looking to start a kitchen, actually. How would I do that?" She asked.

The answer was simple. "Talk to Dismas. Now, please so I can get to work."

* * *

Ebony left the Sanitarium and started toward the graveyard. She had known that Dismas dressed more like a bandit, a highwayman really, and she had seen such a figure and the houndmaster going toward the graveyard; so that was where she would start her search.

Her search did not take long, and she was mildly impressed by what she saw of the surroundings.

 _There were two noticeable sections of the graveyard: one that was less maintained and one that looked to be visited frequently. The graves were dug individually, with shovels leaning against the gates she stood by, and the tombstones were hand chiseled into the backs of used ones from older graves with a handful of fresh ones marked by planks of wood._

 _The section more used also held trinkets, many of which were bloody and broken. These were the graves of the fallen soldiers and heroes._

 _Due to the nature of the hamlet and the threats it faced, honoring the dead often came in groups unless the fallen was favored by the living heroes or the common townsfolk. It was more common for a grave to hold two or three fallen heroes whom shared the seven foot holes as opposed to one; often requiring the grave to be re-dug to accommodate its newest resident._

 _Needless to say, there were no coffins. The wood was better put to use by the blacksmith and builders to maintain and support the living._

Ebony spotted the highwayman Dismas and the houndmaster Micheal, his hound standing alert and at the ready. The two of them had a shovel each and were hard at work burying their comrades... again and what was left of them.

She chose to not interrupt and walk slowly and cautiously toward the dog; not wanting to startle it or make it feel like she was a threat.

When it crouched down and bared its teeth, a low growl coming from it, she moved to step back before she sat down on the ground and watched the three; making eye contact with the hound a few times to see if it had gotten any closer.

As she waited for them to finish, she was already pondering what to say to Dismas. In truth, she had come here with others, three in fact, but they had been lost along the way and only she and the caretaker were allowed to leave. She did need to ask about supplies for herself and her choice of building, and the opportunity of fresh soldiers could yield her a better bargaining position.

It did not seem like much to her, but she had to remind herself that she would be redirecting the flow of supplies and resources to her own desires and wants from others of the hamlet; and the estate overall.

A smile came to her face. She had an idea.

Elina said the hamlet needed more soldiers, she needed supplies, and clearing out some of Weald would be helpful to everyone... and she knew where to go to get all three done.

It took nearly half an hour, but the two men finally finished their grim task.

When they turned to leave, it was hard to miss the pale-skinned creature against the dark background.

"This isn't the place for kids!" The highwayman shouted as he started forward. "Go to the tavern and talk to the barkeeper. He'll get the caretaker to-" He began to say, but trailed to silence when she stood; her oddities becoming apparent.

She was no more than three feet tall, easily mistaken for a child from a distance, and ivory-white skin topped with a shaved head and large, dog-like ears. Her eyes were twice the size of a human's with dark scleras (the normally white part of the eye) around yellow irises that blinked at him. She had a wide mouth that curled into a smile to the ends of her face that greeted his shocked expression. She had only four digits on each hand, three fingers and one thumb each, and her feet looked more like that of a birds with talons and joints for gripping and grabbing as though they too were fingers.

Finally, there was her state of dress: an apron over a set of sleeveless leather armor that covered a minimal amount of her thighs; it offered great mobility, but little protection. Under that apron, however, she kept a belt containing her signature three knives.

She curtsied when he stopped, and introduced herself. "My name is Ebony, and I have come to offer my assistance as a cook to your estate Lore Dismas." She then stood up straight and placed her hands behind her back. "I would also like to make a report about the journey here, if you have the time to hear me out."

Dismas turned his head to the houndmaster and gave him a hand signal. He seemed to understand it, and walked a few yards from the two of them; within range to act in the event he had to.

Dismas then fixed his right hand over the handle of his dagger as he looked Ebony up and down. "Are one like Chris? Are you an abomination?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm just a cook, or a chef if you prefer." She answered. "I do know of a Chris though. Is he a scarred man that can change into something like a wolf-man and bares a large 'A'-shaped brand on his head and another on his back?" She answered.

He nodded. "That's the one, and he's still here... somehow." He said with a sidelong glance toward the chapel. "He's been stuck in prayer for the last few days though." He then turned his eyes back to her, his stance unchanging. "What's this about the others? The actual fighters that should have come with with by stagecoach? Who and what are they?" He demanded.

"Captured by bandits along the way here. They said the caretaker and I were, to an extent, did not have enough meat on our bones and were too skinny for _that old hag_." She began to say, and then went silent as she began to think. "I don't know why. Bone marrow can make for a decent soup, and skin can be added to make a stew if crisp." She added as she went over her mental cookbook

The highwayman only scuffed at the news. "Damnit. I knew something like that might happen, but to attack the stagecoach... Without their big gun, they must have been caught and cornered into raiding the road." He mumbled mostly to himself. "What're the classes of your companions? Who did they take?" He asked.

Ebony hummed silently for a moment as she thought, and then nodded her head. "A bounty hunter, a leper, and a man-at-arms. Could I go with the group you send to recuse them? I'd like to get a lay of the land and collect specimens for taste testing." She said.

Dismas shook his head slightly. "No." He said simply, and then pointed toward the tavern with his left hand. "Go find the barkeep, ask him what needs done, and next week you'll be back where the caretaker found you and out of our hair. End of discussion." He said with a stern tone, and then began to walk away.

She followed after him, staying between him and the houndmaster. "You're going to search the Weald for them, then?" She asked optimistically.

He didn't look back. "They're already dead; eaten alive or butchered. What's the point of looking for corpses we can't even bury?"

She stopped for a moment, but then caught up again. "It was just before the caretaker and I arrived here. Start today and now, and you could save at least two of them. You may even get to them before they get the hag." She replied, egging him on.

"We're already lost two of our best to a bunch of pigs." Dismas said. "As the heir to this estate, I won't waste anymore lives, especially on suicide missions. They should have fled and tried to make it here by foot."

"Can you really afford to lose the path to this hamlet?" She said; and he stopped. "If they struck this way, don't you think that means they know where to make future ambushes?" She added; a coy smile forming on her features.

There was silence, and then he turned his head to her. "We'll get her and her goons next week." He said with a calmer tone and a way of his hand; brushing off her concern.

Ebony only made a causal smile and waited a few seconds before continuing. "I know where on the road they were taken, the direction the bandits went, and I smell like them. Your friend's hound can track the path they took by sniffing me." She said.

Dismas looked down at her, staring into her eyes for several seconds. Finally, he spoke. "And why are you so interested? What's in this for you!?" He had to know why she was being so persistent in this.

"Free supplies for my kitchen, for one. I take this hag is a cannibal, so she had least has spices, blades, and metal I can use." She replied. "For another, you get more troops and the hamlet need fear less brigands in the woods."

His hand was now on the handle of his glove; the leather of the glove creaking slightly as his grip tightened and loosened in thought. After a brief few moments, he relaxed his grip, releasing his weapon, and sighed loudly. "Micheal," he commanded, looking up and toward the houndmaster. "Go get Agatha and Triss; the four of us are killing a hag today-"

"Five!" Ebony said aloud. "Six, if you want to count the dog." She added.

Dismas pointed the finger of his left hand at her. "You're not a fighter, you're barely a citizen. What you will be is bait at worse, and our watch at best! Do I make myself clear?" He asked.

Ebony held up her hand and gave him a thumbs up. "Like polished steel, but I will also be cooking the food for you all. Even the worst of men deserve a good meal before the gallows."

"Fine." He said before turning and walking back toward the hamlet's square. "If I'm lucky for once, we won't see any of those bloodsuckers..."


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Weald

**_Author's Note: A friend of mine noticed some mistakes in one of the chapters, and then I noticed more. So, I went ahead and checked them, edited them, and reposted them. For the most part, everything is the same. For this chapter, think of it as a normal walk through the dungeon, only Ebony is scouting ahead on behalf of them and her abilities and skills as being revealed, as well as mentality._**

 _Party in order of positions: Agatha (hellion), Micheal (houndmaster), Dismas (highwayman), Triss (arbalest). Ebony (OC cook) is tasked with watching during rests and scouting ahead._

 _Provisions taken: Firewood, dog treats, food, torches, shovels, medicinal herbs, skeleton key, antivenom, bandages._

 _Enemies to be encounted: rabib gnashers, fungal scratchers, + fungal artillery, brigand cutthroats + brigand fusiliers, brigand bloodletter + cutthroat + fusilier, spiders, sycophants_

* * *

"I think you're overstocking for this." Ebony pointed out as she looked through the supplies she would be bringing through the Weald with her temporary teammates. She had been fortunate enough to convince one of the farmers to lend her a small wagon to use for the expedition.

It wasn't much, but it would certainly be better than her trying to carry around three packs of unneeded provisions.

Dismas ignored her words and continued to pick out the supplies he thought the expedition would require; choosing far too much food and not enough medicinal herbs in her opinion.

"Get some of those blood vials so I can make sausages!" She pleaded, jumping up to grab the counter and pointing to the items of her desire.

The highwayman put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her away, where she was caught by Micheal before she would otherwise fall.

She blinked at the highwayman, and then looked up at the houndmaster with a frown. "You talk to him! He's wasting the surplus!" She protested, but then quietly hushed with a finger to her lips.

"Listen... Ebony, was it?" He asked, and she nodded. He turned her around and crouched so the two of them were eye level before moving his hands to her shoulders; holding her in place. "We just don't trust you, that's all. It was the same when I first came here, and it will be the same for the next people who come here. The fact that he is even willing to let you help says that he wants to give you a chance without forcing you into combat. Do you understand?" He asked.

Ebony's expression and opinion did not change. "Trust has nothing to do with this." She began. "The hamlet has a surplus of crops and foodstuffs thanks to the efforts of the farmsteads, and, rather than even letting me prove my skills, he is taking what could become preserved rations for longer, more perilous adventures where such supplies would be in short supply." She argued; bringing fair points while also ignoring the feelings of those she was with.

Micheal shook his head. "What if you're not as good as you say? What if you're just pretending? We can't out rule the possibility that you're one of the brigands-"

"And we won't until we're sure." Dismas said, interrupting them before he placed two sacks of provisions into Ebony's wagon. "The Weald is host of disease and blight. Do not touch or eat anything you find there." He warned Ebony before turning to Agatha and Triss. "Agatha, you will be up front."

The hellion hit her chest with her left fist and smiled. "Nothing but the wind will get past me!" She said confidently.

Dismas then turned to Triss. "If you can, shoot where you can, but keep us bandaged when we need it." He said.

The arbalest nodded her head. "I will." She replied simply.

Agatha looked ready for a fight, prepared to risk her life for the sake of battle and bloodshed alone, but Triss was more reserved and cautious. A warrior and a support indeed.

"Will that be all, my lord?" The caretaker asked, rubbing his hands together and snickering slightly. "Wouldn't you consider more?" He asked.

Dismas ignored the older man and surveyed the visible land. "Micheal; when you're ready." He said, and then took his dagger in one hand and his pistol in the other. He pointed with his dagger at Ebony. "You'll be sent to scout several times while we're here. I hesitate to say this, but use your best judgement. Disarm traps, identify enemies, exanime curios, just don't lead enemies to us." He told her.

Ebony, still frowning, agreed. "Okay. Anything else?" She asked.

"Yes: don't waste our provisions."

* * *

 _Half a day into the Weald, and the party decided to take their first day's rest._

 _The scent and trail were still strong, the trail still clear, and they had even found pieces of equipment along the way._

 _They were on the right track._

 _While Agatha, Micheal, Dismas, and Triss set up a camp for the night, Ebony was tasked with scouting the area for possible threats and ensuring they were not ambushed as they slept._

 _During the daylight hours they traveled, they had encountered the enemies most numerous to the Weald. Starving wolves and feral dogs that were attracted to the noise and smell of food, the less fortunate fungal-controlled humans who had succumbed to the corruption, and the occasional brigand and bandit they happened by._

 _They also encountered the curios and oddities of the land. Lost packs and luggage from previous explorers and theirs or brigand tents, long forgotten sconces that had long burned out, the hastily and shallow graves and mummified remains of past friends and family from before the corruption, and the spiderwebs, carcasses, and hollow tree stumps of the forest itself._

 _There was danger, to be sure, but with it came rewards. Materials and riches to fund and rebuild the estate were free for the taking once their keepers were faced and felled. These would go a long way to ensuring the hamlet's survival, as well as encouraging new blood to make the trek into such dangerous lands._

* * *

Ebony began her scouting along the path, and then went into the woods to search for hiding enemies, traps, and curios, but she had little intention of returning within the two hour limit she was given.

Instead, she looked for an animal carcass, gathering dry sticks as she did. If she wanted to know what she had to work with for cooking, she had to start by collecting samples of the local fauna and animals.

She backtracked to where her company had been through, remembering the fungal foes they had killed, and then started to build a small fire.

While it burned, she looked over the fungal scratcher. It had a mostly humanoid shape, dead save for the fungi growing from it and now living off its corpse, but its insides had not changed from that of a human's. It lived by eating it's host, and it would turn into the artillery version.

She collected samples from both, cutting off the mushrooms of the scratcher completely, and then prepared the body to be cooked over the embers of the fire before she took the artillery one behind a collection of trees to continue cutting off the mushrooms of it and examining the corpse it used as a host.

Half an hour went by before she made her next move; after collecting a number of mental notes. The heads of the fungi were not safe to eat, but the stems, once boiled or smoked, could be eaten safely and tasted like common mushrooms.

Ebony stood up from her hiding place and watched as four gnashers, rabid and starving dogs or wolves, began tearing into the meat of the scratcher.

By the way they ate, she knew they were indeed starving from lack of food; possibly due to the bandits being too smart to get eaten and the fungi being as deadly as it was. The thing that saddened her about the canines were the bites and chunks missing from their torsos and legs.

To survive, they had to resort to cannibalizing their own dead.

She let out a whistle, alerting them, and held out her food sack, continuing to whistle and keep their attention.

The gnashers charged her! ...but turned their attention to her sack when she tossed it into the air. It landed, and spilled out, onto the ground a few feet from her.

She stood there, curiously watching with her hands behind her back, as the gnashers fought over the sack, tearing it to pieces and shoveling down the jerky, bread, and dried fruit and vegetables within.

One of the gnashers, the most injured of them, returned to the scratcher's body as the other three chewed and ate her food. They ate ravenously, choking and coughing up food, sometimes vomiting it back up again, but they were determined to eat their fill as fast as possible.

Within minutes, her food was gone, the scratcher was reduced to bones, and the gnashers had turned their attention back to her.

She looked at them curiously, unmoved and without fear, and waited...

None of them approached her.

She moved her left hand to the belt under her apron and removed one of her three knives, holding it within complete view of them in a non-threatening manner.

The gnashers snarled, and then began to walk away, back into the woods.

Ebony made notes in her mind, put her knife back into its slot, and then moved on to scout ahead as she was initially told to.

* * *

Along the way, Ebony noticed other creatures, giant spiders and maggots, in the ecosystem, but also there were some foreign ones. She saw giant mosquitoes walking alongside humanoids with giant insects latched onto their heads.

She watched them for a time, at least until they encountered other members of the ecosystem, and analyzed their movements and attacks.

As soon as the skirmish began, she had seen all she had to, and moved to cover; drawing two of her knives and smiling as she watched.

The mosquitoes and humanoids moved to latch onto their victims and begin draining them of blood, fighting back and retreating as needed to avoid taking too much damage themselves. The mosquitoes were fast, the humanoids tough, and, in a matter of seconds, had killed their victims and were draining the last of blood from them.

It was during this feeding frenzy that Ebony moved to attack.

The mosquito she went for first saw her coming, but only when it was too late; its head being separated from its body in a cross-slash.

The noise, and silence from its no longer buzzing wings, alerted the other three, and so she holstered her knives into its head and caught the body before it fell to the ground; turning it up so the blood would pour out of the stump.

She held the body like a shield, looking over it and moving it when one of the humanoids made a move... and then, one began lumbering toward her.

She threw the mosquito body at it. The humanoid stretched out its arms to catch the body, spilling some of the blood onto the ground and itself, as Ebony pulled her knives free and charged at the other one.

The insect of the humanoid opened its mouth and raised its front legs, but Ebony's attack was not as straight forward. She ran toward it, slid under it and stabbed its knee, leaving her knife in it, and then slashed at the insect body; spilling its collected blood onto her and the ground.

She took out her third knife and stabbed at the spine, just above the waist.

She turned her attention to the second mosquito and pointed her knife at it, threateningly, and grabbed the fleshy sac of emptying blood. It struggled, but it was confused by the lose of control of its host's legs and the pain it was feeling.

She smirked and tilted her head; expecting it to act.

The mosquito swung its hindquarters around, firing a pair of stingers at her. She stepped back, using the flesh sac as a shield and net to catch the stingers, and used the opportunity to sever the insect's 'spinal' area; bringing its struggling to an end.

She glanced at the other humanoid, spotting it lumbering away, and returned her attention to the mosquito. It hovered in the air, watching her, and seemed to be thinking.

Curious, she brought her knife up and gestured toward the other humanoid once, and then twice, and then a third time before it started hovering away from her, but did not show its back to her until the forest vegetation was between it and her.

Ebony then went to her examination of the bodies, starting with the one she was standing over.

She rolled it over, not surprised that the insect's head was still alive, and slashed its throat, holding it until it stopped moving. She then retrieved her knives, cleaned them on the humanoid's clothes, and put them back into their slots behind her apron.

An hour later, she was finished, and started scouting again with the mosquito's head in her hands. She found that the insect had integrated itself into the humanoid's head, becoming part of it, but it could still detach and find a new host. Both types, however, collected blood, first and foremost, but the humanoid was still alive and in control enough to know it was being controlled while lacking the knowledge it might as well have been dead.

Organ and bodily functions were normal up until the time of death, and that was it.

"Local fauna and fungi have been examined, local wildlife have been observed, and foreign samples have been collected." She mumbled to herself, glancing toward the long, pointy nosed head. "I should be getting back now. I still need to meet the local settlers-" she paused when she spotted a tent with three pairs of boots sticking out.

She smiled wickedly, and put the mosquito head down. A terrible fate was about to befall the inhabitants...

* * *

"I wouldn't if I were you." Ebony said with a smile as Micheal started toward the tent.

The group woken after only four hours of sleep, but, thankfully, they had not surprises when they did... other than a bowl of soup Ebony had prepared. She hadn't told them, but she used the stems of mushrooms from the fungal creatures and an apple from Micheal's pack for it.

The houndmaster turned his head to her. "There's nothing inside?" He asked.

She shook her head, but smiled. "I may have led a pack of gnashers to them." She said, recalling the 'friends' she had made.

The man nodded and used his cudgel to slide the support pole over, collapsing the tent. Sure enough, the outline of bodies were revealed. "Hmm. I'll take your word for it." He said with a grunt before following his hound.

Everyone else followed suit, but Ebony lagged behind to collect something she had left near the tent. She walked around the tent, toward its head, and held it up. She felt around for a moment, before stopping when she heard a low howling noise.

She looked over and saw a blue glow from the shadows. The air felt eerie all of a sudden as she looked her eyes on the empty sockets of a skull within an iron cage. Even without seeing all of it, she guessed it was the Collector she had heard about from the nurse.

She did not take her eyes away from it as she reached into the tent and felt around until she found her knife, still buried into the chest of the bandit. She cleaned the knife on the tent, and then did something unexpected: she uncovered the heads of the bodies before backing away.

When she was far enough from the bodies that it began to move, she stopped and watched it, and it her, as it approached the bodies.

She stayed only long enough to see how it claimed one of its trophies, and then turned and ran to catch up with her group.


	4. Chapter 4: Camping Skills

_**Author's Note: This one too a few rewrites until I was finally happy with how it read. Also, I really wanted to include the hag battle here, but, with the rewrites, I couldn't find the time. Still, this one would have ended up being much larger with it. So, now I can just focus on making the boss fight its own chapter.  
**_

* * *

Three days and two nights they had traveled, following the scent provided by Ebony and the trail the brigands and their captives left behind. It was not particularly difficult beyond the first day to keep the scent, and Ebony, once informed of this, began to be more liberal with her cooking and scouting.

The first night was a little worrying for her with the added scent of foreign blood on the formerly outside and now underside of her leather armor, but that did not seem to bother the hound. It was more of a tracker than an attacker after all, so she kept turning her armor inside-out after she left to keep the rest of the party unaware of her combat abilities.

Every time she had gone to scout, she collected more ingredients for meals, quickly prepare the carcass she found over embers to partially cook, and stayed wary in case of attackers. The woods were plentiful with ingredients, although her taste-testing revealed that most of the fungi would need to be boiled before they could be cooked and served, she had not seen the Collector since her first encounter with it, and she had noticed the sounds and eyes of gnashers now and again.

The thought of whether or not those were the same she sacrificed her pack to observe did cross her mind, but she ignored it.

Halfway through the second day, Agatha began to show signs of paranoia toward Ebony as they walked and when they stopped to rest. It was not because she was afraid of the creature trying to kill them, but because her scouting was so effective that they were not running into any combat; save for a few groups of spiders and giant maggots.

During the night of the second day, the hellion began to break.

* * *

"Spider legs, carcass liver, mushroom stumps..." Ebony listed as she named off the items she placed to cook over the fire. "Agatha." She began, noticing the hellion glaring at her but acted normally. "Could you help me by sharpening some sticks? It looks like you want to cut something." She requested.

Agatha said nothing as she glared, but she did reach for a pile of sticks and began sharpening them with the edge of her spear.

"Sharpen both sides: one to hold the morsels, and one to plant in the ground like a stake." She added; smiling and tilting her head at the hellion.

The other three looked from one of them to the other, knowing looks on them, but none wishing to speak in case their words sent their comrade over the edge and into an afflicted state.

Ebony, however, seemed either oblivious to the murderous intent... or encouraged it. "I was really impressed when you cut that one spider in half as it lunged at Lord Dismas. The cut was so clean too, and most of the insides were still good for kabobs."

Agatha said nothing, but she broke the stick in her white-knuckled grip. She turned the two halves over in between her fingers, pointed ends outward, and stuck them into the ground before grabbing another one.

She never broke eye contact with Ebony, who continued.

"Speaking of which, those giant maggots could have been cooked as they were. They were still wiggling and squirming, skewered on your spear like a meaty spit-roast." Ebony went on with a large, wide smile on her ivory face. "We should make displays together sometime... you may even get to pose something worth having been killed."

One could almost hear the straw on the inside of her mind snapping along with the stick in her hand. "I AM NO COOK! I AM A WARRIOR!" She said through gritted teeth.

The hound swiftly moved behind Micheal and laid down with its paws over its eyes; whining fearfully. Dismas and Triss did not act immediately, but watched and were ready to intervene if needed.

Ebony, however, did not change. "And I think you make a fine vermin exterminator." She replied.

Agatha growled and rose, spear in hand, and started toward the steadfast Ebony; Dismas and Triss immediately standing to grapple the hellion if she struck their cook. "Killing vermin will not get him into the Grand Halls!" She said and reached toward Ebony, but her wrist was grabbed by Dismas.

She turned her heated eyes to the highwayman and threw him off her arm. "Stay out of this! She's been keeping all of the glory of combat to herself!" She claimed before turning back to Ebony.

Ebony blinked her eyes at the hellion, her smile faded, and looked at the sticks. "I don't mind doing that myself, but I just thought you'd want to-" she began, but was fell silent when she was grabbed by her apron and lifted up in Agatha's right hand.

"What have you been doing during your scouts!? How is it we've encountered only giant bugs since you started!? Where are our foes!?" She demanded in a heated angry tone.

Dismas began to stand back up, but stopped when Agatha pointed her spear toward him. Triss, wooden bolt nocked, fired a shot at Agatha's hand, causing her to release her grip and drop Ebony...

Or she would have if Ebony hadn't grabbed her by the arm and pulled herself up; barely lower than when she was.

Ebony blinked her black and yellow eyes as she stared up into Agatha's white and brown. "Starving... just like you." She replied with an empty tone. "I can only feed the people who accept my food." She added.

Agatha swung her arm, throwing the smaller female off of her, and turned the back of her spear on her, pinning her to the ground. "I don't need food! I need to fight for my life!" She said.

Ebony shook her head, regaining her sense of surrounding, and looked behind Agatha before looking back at the hellion herself. "That's a good mindset." She began before smiling. "Since we're losing this fight for our lives because of you."

Agatha was shaking with rage, and paranoia, at this point, the stress from lack of combat too much for her to bare. "Starving is not a battle!" She claimed.

Ebony held herself up with one arm and held up a finger with the other. "Actually, it's the war we all fight everyday; I've just trained myself for it." She said in retort.

"For fuck's sake you two, stop it!" Dismas ordered, and the two of them turned to him. "Ebony, stop scouting, Micheal will scout from now on, and you just cook! Agatha, go find something to kill in the woods if you must, but do not fight here!" He said, pistol in one hand and his dagger in the other. "Do I make myself clear!?" He asked.

Agatha glared at him for a moment before removing the butt of her spear from Ebony's chest and walking away from the rest of them.

Ebony, in the meantime, sat up and looked up at Dismas. "Would you like the liver, my lord?" She asked.

The highwayman took a deep breath, and let out a sigh. "Why did you antagonize her like that?" He asked.

She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Should I not have? Now she's looking forward butchering the hag for me." She replied simply before rising and resuming her cooking.

* * *

Finally, the trail was at an end as they saw smoke rising from the tree tops. They target was within sight, and now they had to make sure their weapons and armor would not fail them.

Preparations were simple, but required.

Agatha, still annoyed, was able to calm her nerves by sharpening her spear with a whetstone and working herself into a battle trance by muttering in a strange, repeating chant in a strange tongue. Dismas cleaned his gun, making sure it's alignment was straight and the barrel was clean. Triss restrung her bow, sacrificing rate of fire for more accurate and powerful shots. Micheal and his hound offered to take the first watch, so they were laid down to nap for an hour. Ebony did not have to prepare for battle like the rest, and so she busied herself by making a porridge for the party.

After a couple minutes of tense quiet, Dismas spoke. "Ebony." He said.

"Yes, my lord?" She replied as she stirred the pot of food.

For a moment, Triss ceased her preparations to glance at the two as Dismas continued. "What have you been doing while you were scouting, and what exactly are you? Nothing about this expedition felt normal since your first scout, and then there were your words the other day."

Ebony continued her cooking, stirring the porridge and adding a bit of herbs as she replied. "I was using my best judgement whenever I encountered something." She began, repeating his words from when they first began their expedition days ago. "I've disarmed traps, identified and disabled enemies, and examined curios." She added before she began pouring bowls and passing them out, starting with Triss and then Agatha; setting the bowl down within reach of her but otherwise saying nothing.

When she held out the bowl for Dismas, he reached up and snatched her by the wrist. Her reaction was one of shock, but it was directed at the near lose of the food and not his action. Thankfully, she managed to catch it with her foot before passing it up to her free hand.

She sighed, relieved, and smiled as she looked at Dismas. "That was a close one. Do you want something else, my lord? I think there is still some spider meat." She asked.

Dismas reached forward, but, instead of the bowl, his hand went to her armor and peeled it back a little to see its underside. "You say you're just a cook, is that right?" He asked before letting go and pulling his hand back.

Ebony nodded her head once. "Just a cook, yes." She said.

He took the bowl from her then. "Then why is the inside of your armor stained with dried blood?"

"Can I tell you later?" She asked. "It might start a real fight here." She added in a low voice.

* * *

It was not until the sun began setting on the third day that they found the hag's cooking site, and, with it, the bounty hunter, leper, and man-at-arms; their equipment acting as the rim for the hag's fire. In addition to the cauldron and cage, there was a bloody table with human remains that held a cleaver, a mallet, and a few satchels of spices.

The clearing she maintained did not yield itself well to a sneak attack, and it was unlikely Agatha would be patient enough to let them.

"There they are!" Micheal whispered, pointing toward a cage of bone with three figures in it.

The other four, keeping several feet from the hound master in the brush, watched and looked to see them. It was too far for them to identify their condition, but they had to have hope.

"Orders?" Micheal called back in a hushed tone.

Dismas turned his head, looking around, and signaled for Agatha to move into position closer to Micheal. "Triss, stay back here until the hag's attention is on us. Ebony, try to get them out and tend to them." He said.

As the hellion aggressively moved in, Micheal and his hound kept a reasonable distance from the angry woman. Triss loaded a bolt into her crossbow and Ebony picked out small portions of rations and waterskins to feed to the caged captives.

They saw the hag a short distance from the cage, eating ravenously at a table with her giant five-foot tall and three-foot wide, three and a half feet at the height's middle, pot boiling with something inside it between her and the captives. It looked like she was eating a freshly boiled human corpse, but it was difficult to be certain from their distance.

Slowly but surely, they advanced in pairs, save for Dismas who followed between the two; Ebony and Triss going toward the cage and Agatha and Micheal toward the hag.

It did not take long for the hag to notice the intruders, and she was quick to dispose of her meal by throwing it at her nearest attacker: Agatha.

The hellion shouldered the carcass out of her way before rushing into melee with the larger human.

As that clash went on, Ebony, Triss, and Dismas were able to get into position, placing themselves between the cage and the pot and hag.

While Triss and Dismas stood in to protect her, and Micheal began issuing commands to his hound with the aid of his whistle, Ebony made quick work of the cage with her knives. "Hi again. I said you'd all be fine, didn't I?" She asked as she laid out a blanket in front of them before placing the food and waterskins on it.

The bounty hunter, a nasty bump on his head, practically lunged for the food, but was stopped when Ebony pushed him back; something only possible due to his weakened state. "No! Not so fast! You'll get sick, and this is only the appetizer." She said.

The leper and man-at-arms, more disciplined and restrained, reached forward, slowly and with shaking hands, and each took a water skin and morsel of bread.

"Just stay here, eat and drink slowly, and..." She said, but stopped when she looked at the leper's face. "I'll leave the bag with you. There are herbs in it." She placed it in his lap, and then resumed before letting go of the bounty hunter. "I'll get to work on a hearty stew. We're getting out of this." She then began to back away, and drew two of her knives.

"Except for the glutton, that is." And then turned to rush the hag.


	5. Chapter 5: Kill the Hag

_Positioning: Agatha the Hellion (paranoia affliction), Micheal the Hound Master, Dismas the Highwayman, Triss the Arbalest_

 _ **Author's Note: For this, I did decide to do things in the turn-based style of the game, for simplicity's sake. The characters will get one action each, except for the hag who gets two. I don't know if I'll stick with this. Give me feedback if you like it through a review or PM. Thank you and I hope you readers enjoy.**_

* * *

 _Round One_

Hag: With a savage, hungry gleam in her eyes and unrelenting might, she swiftly lumbered toward Dismas. Despite her size, the cannibal was an agile and speedy predator, easily making her way past Agatha and Micheal and his hound to grab the highwayman and bring him to her pot.

Dismas: Unloaded two shots into the hag as she approached and a quick slash with his dagger, but none stopped the hag as she started toward him. He tried to dodge her grab, but her reach was too great. The hag lifted him off the ground, slammed him into the ground to daze him, and then carried him toward the pot.

Micheal: He sung his cudgel, going for her right knee, but it felt like he only struck a tree and the effect was just as effective against the giant. He drew his whistle and signaled for his hound to try and capture her off before the pot.

Agatha: She managed a quick slash, drawing first blood, but it did nothing to stop the eight-foot woman. In her thirst for blood, she immediately turned and gave chase, intent on being the one to bring her foe down.

Hag: She laughed manically, seeing these intruders and attackers only as fuel for her eldritch experiments and food for her hunger, as she threw Dismas into her pot to boil. Her attention was then turned to Agatha, her immediate threat, and reached for one of her spice satchels at her belt.

She cast a large handful of seasoning toward the hellion, the spices, herbs, and dried bits of small animals carried on a magical wind, imbued themselves into the hellion's skin and veins on contact; weakening her muscles.

Triss: She loaded another bolt and lined up her shot, but she did not fire immediately. Instead, she watched the hag, waiting for her chance to make her shot count.

Ebony: Knives at the ready, she charged at the hag, darting around Agatha, and went straight for the hag's ankles; using both blades in each hand to slice at the tendon and keep her from moving for a bit.

Cooking took time and preparation, and having the main meat remain in one place made carving chunks from it easier. Next came choosing the seasoning and spices, but first there was the matter of the pot's contents.

* * *

 _Round Two_

Hag: She had to grab the rim of her pot with her free hand, the heated metal more of an inconvenience than a hindrance to her eldritch-infused body, to steady herself. She was able to lock her leg and stand again, but not move as she did previously. She was stronger than normal humans, but her anatomy was still mostly the same.

She reached for her tenderizing mallet and swung it at Agatha, identifying her as the most immediate threat. While the hellion was her intended target, spectral versions of the hag appeared near Triss, Micheal, and Ebony, each swinging a mallet of their own toward their targets.

Dismas: Eyes shut tight and trying to swim upwards, he emerged to take a gulp of heated air and began treading water as best as he could past the bubbling and boiling water. It was difficult to tell where the rim of the pot was while fighting the pain from the heat, but he managed to find it and attempted to pull himself over and out of the pot, or at least use his weight to tip it over.

Micheal: Using his whistle and signals with his other hand, he sent his hound to move around the hag and bite at her weakened ankle; dealing severe, and noticeable, damage. He called the hound back a moment later, not wanting his companion to get hurt.

Agatha: "This is my foe! Leave it to me!" She shouted as she turned her attention from the hag to the hound, and then kicked it toward Micheal. She then turned back to the hag and swung her spear, but the attack was too reckless and missed its mark.

Hag: She stepped away from the hellion and moved toward the other end of her pot, fetching her ladle to have a taste of her cooking stew... until she felt some resistance on her arm.

She looked down to see the short, white-skinned creature looking up at her... smiling with a hopeful gleam in her eyes and a white, toothy grin.

Triss: She swapped out her normal bolt for a heavier one when she saw Dismas emerge from the pot, and then let it fly at the supports just under the pot. The strike could not have worked better even if she hit it with hammer as the pot fell over, spilling out a few gallons of water and allowing Dismas to pull himself out of the boiling water.

Ebony: "You're the one who'll be cooking now." She said and started tugging on the ladle; in vain of course. She glanced toward Agatha, seeing the hellion looking at her with a murderous intent, and gave her a sidelong smirk. "Do you need me to butcher her? Or is that spear just for bugs?" She teased.

* * *

 _Round Three_

Hag: She was much stronger than Ebony, and it did not take her long to lift the much smaller creature up and toss it into the pot, immediately plunging her into the still mostly full pot of boiling water. She then raised the pot back up and positioned the support to make sure it would remain standing.

With the pot full again, she turned her attention back to the hellion. She smiled menacingly and readied another handful of seasoning.

Dismas: He gasped and groaned in pain, his sensory system still screaming as he struggled to his feet. He took a breath and crawled away from the pot, Agatha, and the hag as he got to his feet. He didn't realize how far he had gotten until he was helped up by Micheal.

Micheal: He caught his hound and sat it down on the ground before moving to protect Dismas until Triss could administer first aid. He wanted to help Ebony, but, with Agatha in a rage, it was dangerous for any of them to get too close. Thankfully, they were out of range of the hellion's spear.

Agatha: She let out a furious cry as she danced around the pot to strike the hag, moving with a surprising amount of elegance and grace considering her state of mind, but her paranoia involved not fighting rather than fear of her companions. That yielded itself well to her fighting prowess, but not to fighting as a team.

Hag: Another round of spices were applied to the hellion, further weakening her body and locking up muscles to the point her vision became blurry. She laughed at her would-be killer before tucking her satchel of spices onto her belt for future use, and then turned her attention to the other three; ladle in her right hand and the mallet in the left.

Triss: She ran toward Dismas, placing her crossbow on the hook of her belt and pulled a length of bandages from the pack at the other side of her hip. She immediately began wrapping up his wounds, the most serious of them anyway, before drawing her crossbow again and pointing it at the hag. There was no time for her to attempt another miracle shot, but she hoped she wouldn't have to make that.

Ebony: She kept her eyes shut, but not as tight as one might think. She was different from humans, but she was still feeling the pain of being boiled alive; it would just take longer for her to be killed and cooked. Like with Dismas, the boiling currents made it difficult for her to get her bearings, but she managed to let herself sink to the bottom and jumped up past the water's surface and grab the pot's rim.

She drew a knife in her right hand and passed it down to hold in her left food, and then gripped the rim of the pot in both of her hands to pull herself up and out of the water, where she spotted the hellion having trouble seeing. "Agatha! Your right; upper slash!" She said from behind the hag.

* * *

 _Round Four_

Hag: She turned her head when she heard the voice from her pot, and then reached with her right hand to push Ebony back into the water, but Ebony was ready with a counterattack

A quick stab with the knife in her foot and the hag had to recoil; Ebony's strike aimed right at the artery in the hag's wrist. The hag lost feeling in her hand as soon as Ebony pulled the blade out, causing a serious bleeding effect, and pulled her hand with both of her. This grapple was more in Ebony's favor.

Agatha: By force of will, she was able to step forward and slash her spear upwards. She felt contact made, but her vision was still clouded by the spices and seasonings in her system. The cut, however, felt like it went struck a bone and before making a clean way out.

Ebony: She held one knife in her left foot, her right foot gripping the rim of the pot, and her hands holding the meaty hand of the hag, she had presented Agatha with a ripe target to unknowingly aim for. When the slash connected, and nearly cutting the arm half off at the just before the elbow, she was ready to sever it completely by drawing a line over the other side of the arm with the knife in her foot before twisting and pulling to rip the limp off.

With part of the meat for the stew in her hand, she used her momentum to go from one end of the pot to the other, taking another momentary dip into the water before climbing out again with her left foot and right hand. She adjusted her position, gripping the rim of the pot with her feet, knees bent for balance, and began quickly slicing off strips of the hag's severed arm into of the pot.

Hag: She howled in pain and stepped away from both the pot and the hellion on her one good leg, moving her good arm toward her arm stump to slow the bleeding. Her eyes turned into a glare of rage as she turned her head to the hellion, who was nearest her, and rushed her with her mallet drawn.

There was no magic in this strike, but it was a sense-rattling blow to the hellion's left shoulder, nearly stunning her.

Micheal: "Ebony is in the pot. Orders!?" He asked. He wanted to help free her, but he also knew that Dismas might need his protection. Whatever he decided, he was ready to act.

Dismas: He rose again, feeling recovered enough to resume the fight, and looked up toward the hag, Agatha, and, he was surprised to see her above the pot, Ebony fighting around the pot. "They're holding their own. We'll just have to stay back and provide cover fire when we can." He said as he drew his pistol and waited for an opening.

Triss: "I think they got it." She said, moving her hand to Dismas's pistol and lowering the gun. "The hag is losing a lot of blood." She pointed out.

* * *

 _Round Five_

The hag swung her mallet again, but this time she missed as the hellion regained her footing from the previous blow and side-stepped to make a more precise strike. She was still bleeding profoundly from her severed arm, but she had strength enough still to be able to ignore the pain and continue fighting.

Ebony made only a few cuts into the arm to expose the bone before she tossed it into the pot to cook and simmer. With that part of the meat prepared and cooking, she could move onto collecting more and adding other ingredients to the stew.

She drew one of her knives and leapt from the pot to the hag's waist; to her satchel of spices specifically. Her free hand grabbed the hag's belt and she cut it free with the other. "Agatha! Down the middle!" She called before she cut at the inside of the back of the hag's good knee.

Agatha followed the instructions she was given, striking with a diagonal slash as best as she could with her injured shoulder. It was not a very effective, but it was enough to leave a shallow cut across the hag's belly.

The hag tried to stagger back and away, but the damage to her leg by Ebony kept her moving more than a few steps before it gave way and she fell to the ground.

She tried to lift herself up with her one good arm and the stump of the other, but Ebony was already there and, honestly, seemed uninterested in fighting as she cut the fabric of the hag's cloak.

"Where's the hag? ... Where is the hag, creature!?" Agatha shouted as she tried to make sense of her blurry vision. Her tone was not kind, but angry; both from being denied her foe's location and that she had to rely on Ebony for direction.

Ebony did not answer immediately, but finished tearing off the hag's cloak before throwing it to the fire. "Right; sweep bottom. Hack too." She said as she emptied out one of the satchels of spices over the still-living hag's back.

It took a few tries before Agatha found her target, but, when she did through brutal probing, she began quickly striking until she stopped hearing the hag's blood gurgling groans and pained wails.

* * *

The hellion, breathing heavily, then started backing away until she stumbled and fell backwards over the half-eaten carcass of the brigand. "Is she dead?" The answer did not come soon enough for her. "DAMN IT ALL! DID I KILL THE MONSTER!" She screamed.

While Agatha tried to make sense of things, Micheal went over to give her a damp cloth bandage. She nearly attacked him, but the feeling of the cloth made her reconsider.

As she washed her face, he began to speak. "The hag's dead!" He began, signalling for his hound to take the spear. "Just stay seated, and take care of yourself." He said.

In the meantime, Triss saw to the three in the cage, helping them out and providing first aid where needed while Ebony finished preparing their _'food'_.

They were... uncertain of whether or not they would have the stomach for what she was cooking, including the others who had watched her prepare the stew.

Ebony had, for the most part, began and finished making a meaty stew as she had promised, but the meat she used came from the hag's arms and the marrow from the bones. Whatever she did not put into the stew, such as the hands and pieces of clothing, went into the fire to keep it alive.

She had rubbed the seasoning into the arms before cutting them and skewering them on sticks or leaving them on the bone to cook on the ground, such as in the case of the upper arms, and cutting large chunks from the forearms to add to the stew.

The ivory-skinned creature did all of this as though this was natural for her, much to the stunned looks of Dismas, Triss, and Micheal, but the other three, the leper, bounty hunter, and man-at-arms, did not seem as shocked as them; they had ridden with her partway to the hamlet after all. She worked the meat like it was from a pig or cow, and, had they not seen her in the act, they might have assumed it to be the case.

When she finished tossing the meat into the pot, she moved toward the rest of the hag to continue stripping the meat from the body, and was stopped when Dismas fired a shot at the body.

Ebony let out a sigh and frowned. "Now I have to dig the bullet out..." She groaned before she turned her head toward Dismas and smiled. "Can I help you with anything, my lord? Perhaps you'd like a specific organ Agatha may not have destroyed?" She offered.

The highwayman cocked his pistol, but did not fire it. "We're not cannibals." He said. "We brought extra food for this very reason, and you will not be feeding us that vile stew." He said with a heated tone.

"Ah!" Ebony let out. "Not to worry about that, my lord. The broth of the stew is what I was planning to feed them. The meat, however, is for whatever animals might come by while we're resting, and to dispose of the body on our behalf." She said, and then turned herself toward him and locked the fingers of her hands behind her back. "The mineral rich stew will improve their health." She assured him. "I doubted any of you would want to eat the hag's meat..." She added.

He was not convinced. "I will not let you feed these good men that... stew, as you call it." He said.

She held up her hand and frowned at him. "No, it's not the stew, it's the broth from the stew." She repeated. "Besides, shouldn't they be the ones to decide what they want to eat? With all due respect my lord: You've not hired them as mercenaries yet."

She had a point there... "That is true." Dismas said, and then looked to the other three and Triss. "What say you?" He asked.

The man-at-arms spoke up. "We won't of able to move much if we do not get nutrients in us." He said, to which the leper and bounty hunter said nothing but nodded their heads. "One of the wars I fought in... we did something similar for our wounded with the bodies of the dead and dying, 'cept it was for wound care."

"Triss?" Dismas asked.

The arbalest nodded her head. "A plague doctor or the nurse at the hamlet might know more and be able to give better advice, but what she says is true from my knowledge." She confirmed, although she only knew basic first aid.

The highwayman grumbled something under his breath, and then looked back to Ebony. "Fish the hag's meat out of that pot. You can strip the marrow from the bones and add it, but that's it." He said. "We are not cannibals though." He quickly added, looking to and locking eyes with the other humans. He was not sure what made the hag the way she was, but he did not want to take risks.

Ebony smiled and nodded her head. "I've noticed that's common among your kind." She said, and then returned her attention to the hag's corpse. "If you decide to let me stay, I'll let my patrons know when I'm using human bits and in what recipes." She informed as she took the hag's ladle.


	6. Chapter 6: Provide-Protect Pact

_**Author's Note: Reviews are helpful and I would like to thank those who gave suggestions. I will keep the combat system, switching from it whenever it is drawing to a close, and I will provide better explanations for the characters' classes. I've also been thinking about underlining character speech. If people are annoyed by it, I'll stop.  
**_

 _ **As for Ebony... she isn't really meant to be one of the existing classes. She's a bit like the occultist, but from a different perspective; low damage skills, speed and dodge debuffs, massive bleed attack, the ability to 'fightback' when captured, and providing special marks for afflicted characters.**_

 _ **I want to keep most of her secret until it more about her is revealed.**_

* * *

The group of eight had spent the night near the sight of their battle, their numbers making it possible to keep watch for hostiles without over-exerting themselves, and then began their journey back the hamlet... bringing with them a few extra items.

Ebony had requested a number of the hag's equipment: the cauldron, the ladle, her satchels of spices and seasonings, and various other supplies sprawled around the hag's camp. Even if she was not allowed stay at the hamlet, she saw the use in the items for her own needs and wants.

Besides, she was owed something for her assistance.

After three days of travel, they finally arrived to their destination, and Agatha (bar), Micheal (gambling hall), and Triss (meditation) broke away from the group to begin relieving their own stress while Dismas stayed with the other four to give them the rundown on what was going on in the hamlet, the estate over all, and what was to be expected of them if they stayed.

"If we stay?" Ebony asked, poking her head out from the inside of the empty cauldron.

Dismas nodded his head. "I'll give you the chance to prove your usefulness outside of combat, since I don't think it will be a good idea to leave you alone in the woods with others." He then looked to the rest of them; the leper, the bounty hunter, and the man-at-arms. "Go to the blacksmith to place an order for new equipment; I'll pay with the funds from the coffers. After that, go to the guild and speak with the trainers; they may be able to teach you a few new tricks, but they will give you some equipment and let you train your skills in exchange for coin." He explained, and then looked over them; awaiting questions.

The leper, his face wrapped in bandages, stepped forward. "My name is Bertrand de Vincent. I received a dream a month ago about a darkness spreading through the world from a doorway buried underneath a mountain, along with the name of a land I did not know. What can you tell me of this corruption?" He asked, his accent foreign and sounding similar to that of Reynold's.

"Jericho, an occultist, is the man you'll want to talk to about that. He's been communing with whatever things are here, but he can be trusted to not try and kill us." Dismas replied, and then put his hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm. I need to see how his research is coming along anyway, so I'll show you to him in an hour. Anyone else?" He asked as he looked toward the bounty hunter and the man-at-arms.

"What is the pay like here? If I'm to be risking my life against beasts like that cannibalistic woman, I want to know it will be worth it." The bounty hunter said, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes.

"Pay's two hundred gold pieces a week plus a twenty percent of whatever you find after a week's trek, like the little one's got." Dismas explained and pointed over toward Ebony.

The ivory-skinned creature narrowed her eyes at him. "If you want to eat, I'm keeping these. You can keep the shiny rocks though; they don't make good stew anyway." She said.

The two men blinked at her, but said nothing as they turned back to one another. "Name's Wallace, by the way, and I'll be taking coin and gems for my payment." The bounty hunter said. "Now, which way to the blacksmith? I'm going nowhere without good armor and a better axe." He said.

Dismas pointed out the building that was the forge, and then turned to the man-at-arms as the bounty hunter left them. "What's your story? If you're looking for a man named Barristan, he's dead and buried at the graveyard." He said.

The man-at-arms shook his head. "While I still can, I plan to fight protecting others. I... owe it to some who have past already." He said.

"Fair enough. You gonna give me your name too?" Dismas asked.

"Jefferson, Patrick Jefferson. Your's?" He asked.

"Dismas. The old lord of this estate sent me a letter saying he had been poking his nose into things he shouldn't have, and now, rather than face his mistakes, he wants me to do it. He took the coward's way out to boot, so I couldn't even put the bullet in his head myself." He grumbled.

"I'll see what I can do to help." Jefferson said, and then saluted with a fist to his chest before moving toward the forge.

With all of the fighters gone, Dismas turned his attention to Ebony and stared at her with an accusing look in his eyes. "Now, I doubt you're here just to cook food for complete strangers. What is it that you want from here?" He asked.

Ebony climbed up and out of the cauldron before going to look over the other pieces of equipment. "I can't stay in normal places with normal people, and I've worked for humans in the past as a cook." She began to explain. "Honestly, I'd like to try to farm here. If brigands, bandits, and whatever that hag was are any thing to go by, my best bet for lodging is here."

"Do you just like putting your life in danger?" He asked her.

She stopped her rummaging and turned back around to face him, a smile on her face, and stared at him with wide eyes. Others might think she was cute how she looked now, but that was an easily changed opinion. "I'm always danger, I just feel safer among others who are also in danger." She said. "By the way, can I get some help moving this equipment to the chapel? I need to have it cleansed by the priest there." She added.

The highwayman was actually surprised by what she said. "You want to have that stuff blessed?" He asked.

She nodded her head. "Of course. I don't want anyone eating abyss corruption bacteria, after all." She said with a smile.

* * *

"I like the look of this place." Ebony said as she searched the ruins of the granary building. The rubble would have to cleared away, a new roof was needed, tables and chairs would need to be brought in, and her new cooking equipment would need to be transported from the chapel into the building before the walls were repaired or a set of double doors would have to put into place.

Still, she was already thinking of where she wanted everything to be setup, what meals she could make, and considering how many patrons she'd be able to cook for, but first she'd need to finish other preparations and request the use of the buildings.

Since it was a granary, her having a kitchen here instead shouldn't complicate matter, if at all, should her request be granted. If anything, it would be an improvement over what would otherwise be. Food processing, meal preparation and serving, and it was out of the way of most other buildings.

As the day turned into dusk, Ebony was still in the ruined district, but now she had set up a little makeshift camp out of the stones and wood. It was cozy and comfy by her standards, but she could, would, and often did make use of the situation she was given. She might be able to get a place in the main area of the hamlet, but she was too excited about the prospect of gaining a kitchen within, possibly, the month.

She froze for a moment when she heard the rattling of chains, and then turned to see a man in scarred, bald man carrying a cloak over one shoulder and a length of chain around his torso and waist. By the look of it, the restraints, despite their materials, wouldn't be able to stop him from doing anything, but she knew they were for show rather than effect.

He smiled as he drew closer, his weathered face making him look much older than her truly was. "It's been awhile, Ebony. How have you been?" He asked.

Ebony did not return the smile, but glared at him as though disappointed. She grumbled at him before climbing over what little rubble was in the way and marched toward him.

When she was in front of him, the man's smile not fading as he looked down and watched her, she circled around him, looking him over and even lifting his cloak and tattered pants to examine him like a piece of meat or a carcass, until she made three full rotations and stopped in front of him.

She looked up, meeting his eyes, and angrily glared at his smiling face.

"You've not been eating at least ten pounds of meat each week, have you?" She asked with an irritated tone.

The man shook his head. "We've been going some... difficult time these last two months." He informed, and then looked past her to what she had been doing.

When he did, Ebony rolled her eyes, and then finally smiled as she looked up at him. "I've been okay Chris; making it through somehow." She said before turning and moving to climb up on a stone to sit and be more eye level with him. "I'll probably have something made for breakfast tomorrow. I've heard there are pigmen and fishfolk in the area." She said; her tone more causal than before.

Chris, an abomination, grimmished at her words. "The swine have been attacking the farms and the fish people will send in small groups to scout. We've mainly been fighting brigands in the Ruins and Weald. The Warrens and the Cove, as well as the Courtyard, have been secondary." He explained.

"Warrens, Cove, and Courtyard..." She repeated, and then looked over at a mosquito. "Which one is causing these things?" She asked.

"They have been coming from the Courtyard." He answered.

Ebony watched the insect as it buzzed in the air, slowly moving her head toward it, and let it land on her and 'bite' her hand.

A second later, the insect popped like a bubble in boiling water.

"Have they been a problem?" She asked.

Chris blinked, surprised for a moment, and then shook his head. "We've been burning torches and smoking buildings to keep them away, but that's not working as well anymore."

"It wouldn't surprise me if the Warrens and Cove are infected with these things, and the inhabitants want to find a place without them. The Ruins doesn't have enough prey, the brigands and whatever else know how to keep them away better, and the Hamlet is already occupied." She guessed, and then looked at the insect guts on her hand. "I think these bugs need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. If not to stop the attacks from the Warrens and Cove, then to prevent diseases from the other areas."

Chris tilted his head at her. "Do you really think that?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Mosquitoes do spread disease like wildfire." She said before licking the guts off her hand, and then stuck her tongue out. "They can't even be eaten." She noted aloud. "The Courtyard needs to be cleared out." She stated, and then jumped off her seat.

She walked toward him, smiling up at him, and gestured for him to follow. "Let's go back! I'll make your favorite: chicken gruel in warm milk!" She offered.

Chris's eyes widened and he licked his lips. "I would-" He began to say, but then his stomach growled, and he laughed nervously.

Ebony stopped and turned to him, a worried look on her face. " _I'll add some extra chicken to the dish. You probably need it anyway._ "

* * *

 **Sitting atop the chapel and looking over all the land that could be seen, a voice spoke into the midnight darkness; lit only by the moon and stars.**

 _"How long has it been? How long have you been?"_

 **The voice carried with it no words, but the one being spoken to would hear them clearly.**

 _"Long ago, we knew one another. Here and now, we still know one another. How have you been? Do you still eat? Are you still served?"_

 **There was a cry from the direction of the mansion, a dark, deep moan that sent a parade of crows from the tree between the hamlet and that manor.**

 _"You have left a vacancy, and now it falls to another. You no longer need me, and so I have chosen another to serve."_

 **There was no answer.**

 _"I stake my claim on behalf of my master. To protect, those here will provide. To feed, those here will eat. Those here are my patrons, and I am theirs."_

 **A deep, echoing groan came from all directions around the hamlet from each of the domains.**

 _"Send you champions against me if you wish. I will see to it their flesh is consumed by mine on the morrow."_

 **Silence.**

 _"In the morning, the contract will be present. Each of you may accept, each of you may decline. Accept or decline, keep or break, it is always there._

 _"Here, my providers will be protect. Out there, I will hunt your betrayers and hunters. This is your home, my home, and I will not tolerate intrusions."_


	7. Chapter 7: First Servings

_**Author's Note: Did some cleaning on this one.  
**_

* * *

It took longer than she thought to collect the food and ingredients she'd need for different dishes, decide what she could make, and convince the barkeeper to let her cook and use his kitchen and the tools within, but she managed it after a short lecture and promising to clean up when she finished.

Her cauldron, and other supplies from the hag's camp, were still being cleansed by the priest at the chapel, his schedule and duties keeping him from getting to it immediately, and he had only prepared the necessary notes and chants. He would still need to preform the ritual, a task that would take most the day later in the week.

Ebony had finally finished all of her preparations and gathered everything she would need to cook for the fifteen fighters she knew were around the hamlet... assuming none of them had left for missions already.

She was dressed in a clean set of leather armor with a fresh, white apron on. Her signature three knives were sheathed under the apron, out of view but easy to draw at a moment's notice. Finally, she wore no shoes or boots on her feet; preferring the extra mobility and grasp in case she needed it.

As she finished laying out three baskets of freshly baked bread rolls, her first patrons came in. It was a group of three: Elina, a grave robber, Jericho, an occultist, and Mina, a vestal. Elina and Mina sat next to each other at the counter in front of her, but Jericho sat at the end of the counter closest to the wall and put his head in his hands. A few seconds later, he looked to the side and picked up a roll.

Ebony turned her attention to the two female humans and smiled in greeting. "Good morning. What can I make for you two?" She asked as she them each a menu. "What can I get you two to drink? There is water, a limited amount of tea, sweet and unsweetened, and apple and potato juice. Oh, and help yourselves to the bread rolls." She said.

Mina accepted the menu after a moment of hesitation, Ebony's appearance catching her off guard at first, and looked over it while Elina took the menu in one hand and returned Ebony's smile with one of her own. "So, you're being allowed to stay?" She asked.

Ebony nodded her head. "As a cook, yes. I think Lord Dismas won't let me go back out to fight though." She answered. She turned her head toward the occultist, watching him for a second, before she looked back to the grave robber. "I guess that's for the best, anyway." She said happily.

Elina tilted her head and began to read over the menu.

While they decided what they wanted to eat, Ebony stepped off the stool she was using and carried it down the counter to speak to the occultist; placing the stool down and standing on it. "Good morning." She said, and then noticed the look on his face. "Would you like some tea, sir?" She asked with a concerned frown.

"Bitter... please." He requested.

She stepped down from off her stool and moved to the kitchen. She returned a minute later with a mug of tea, carefully stepped onto the stool, and placed the mug on the table in front of the occultist. "It's hot." She warned before placing a menu next to the basket of rolls.

"Thank you." He said before taking a sip of the tea.

"Oi!" Elina called, and Ebony turned her head. "We'll take the fried bacon and eggs with gravy and biscuits. I'll take a mug of potato juice, and Mina will have some water." She said, and then Mina nodded her head in agreement.

"Coming right up!" She said before getting off the stool again, moving it in front of the grave robber and vestal, and then went into the kitchen.

Five minutes later, Ebony emerged with two plates of food in her hands. She carefully climbed onto the stool, placed the plates down in front of the two women, and then left to get their drinks, returning a few seconds later. "Enjoy!" She said with a smile.

As they began eating, Ebony moved herself, taking the stool with her, to the occultist. "Have you decided what you'd like to order, sir?" She asked. She noticed after she had spoken that the menu was untouched and two more rolls were missing.

The occultist shook his head. "Another mug of tea, please." He said.

Ebony frowned at him. "Are you sure? Bread rolls and bitter tea aren't a very balanced breakfast." She said.

He looked at her, his eyes dark from lack of sleep and exhaustion, and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "This land is teeming with all manner of vile, dark things, and they are getting to me..." He began and yawned before he continued. "Just last night, while I tried to sleep, I heard the abyss speak, arguing with itself."

She frowned at his words. "I'm sorry that you were kept awake. I could make you something that's easy on the stomach." She offered.

"If you can, please do, but make it something I can easily swallow as well." He requested.

"I will." She said, and then returned to the kitchen. Another handful of minutes later, and she returned with a bowl of applesauce with ginger. "Applesauce with ginger spice..." she said before going to fill his mug, "and a refill of bitter tea." She finished.

"Thank you." Jericho said before he took a spoonful.

"I'm surprised." Elina said, drawing Ebony's attention. "You're better than the barkeeper." She said.

Ebony smiled and nodded her head once. "I do my best for my patrons." She replied, and then Jericho startled.

Elina and Mina looked at the occultist, but Ebony offered him a strip of cloth. She only smiled at him.

* * *

As the morning went on, more people came in. Some picked a table after they had gotten their meal, others sat at the counter, and those who had eaten moved to a distant table to talk or left the tavern to go about their daily routine.

As more people came in and ate, Ebony seemed to become more energetic as she cooked the food and served it at the counter or the tables. She did not seem to tire, but she seemed to become faster and more agile as she got into a grove, so to speak.

Most were surprised with her culinary skills, giving her compliments and some asking for seconds. When she had the time, she spoke to the diners, offering suggestions if they seemed troubled or undecided on what they wanted and making small talk.

Micheal placed his meal order and took it outside to eat with his hound; scrambled eggs, a muffin each, and smoked bacon with water to drink. Alexander and Reynold, flagellant and crusader respectively, ate pancakes and orange slices with water, and then Marin, another vestal, joined them at their table and ordered the same thing. Triss, Bertrand, and Yorick, arbalest, leper, and jester, ordered the deep dish pancakes and toast with apple and grape jams and milk to drink. Jefferson, a man-at-arms, came in with Chris, abomination, and Wallace, bounty hunter, and only ate a small meal of biscuits and gravy and drank water before they left to train at the guild.

Finally, the last ones to enter, were Dismas, the highwayman, and Agatha, the hellion. Including them, the only ones who remained were Jericho, Marin and Mina, Yorick, and Alexander.

Dismas sat at the counter and ordered a mug of ale, but Agatha walked up to the counter, leaned forward, and looked at Ebony with a smile on her face. "How much of that pork do you have left?" The hellion asked.

Ebony placed Dismas's mug on the counter in front of before addressing Agatha. "Most of the belly and hindquarters has been served, but there's still most of the head and below, so to speak." She replied, returning the smile in kind.

The hellion licked her lips. "I'll take what's left then." She said.

Ebony considered this request, something she hadn't done with the others. "That's... a lot of meat. Are you sure?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "Would you like me to add anything else? Vegetables, fruit, or stuffing?" She asked.

Agatha shook her head as she straightened. "If it is as much meat as you think, should I really have anything else?" She asked with a sidelong smirk and a raised eyebrow.

The cook nodded her head once... and her smile grew. "Butchering works up an appetite, doesn't it? I can respect that." She began. "It will take twenty minutes." She finished.

"I'll be waiting over there." Agatha said, pointing over her shoulder toward an empty table, and then went to sit and wait.

* * *

Occultist Jericho was dozing off at the end of the counter a few chairs distance from Dismas the highwayman, who was eating a plate of bacon, eggs, and gravy. The vestal sisters, Marin and Mina, had moved to sit with Alexander, flagellant, and discuss religion. Finally, Yorick the jester sat at the table nearest Agatha, hellion, strummed his lute, looking for the right tune.

The others had already left the tavern.

It took closer to forty minutes, since she had to prepare a meal for Dismas, but, finally, Ebony left the kitchen and approached Agatha with a jug of water and a mug for her. She held them up for the hellion, and waited for her to take them before she spoke. "Would you like it now, or do you want to wait for it to cool in the kitchen?" She asked.

"That didn't take you long." Agatha began. "Is it fully cooked?" She asked.

"I've been slow roasting it for... roughly seven hours." Ebony answered. "A lot of the fat was melted, refined, seasoned, and used as a baste for the meat, which was surprisingly lean and muscular." She admitted.

Agatha thought about this, and then nodded her head. "I'll take it now." She said. "If it's too hot, I can wait for it to cool here, right?" She asked.

"Okay then." Ebony replied before returning to the kitchen.

A minute later, Ebony brought out a wheelbarrow with Agatha's order... and all eyes were eventually turned and staring at the hunk of roasted meat as it was rolled up to the hellion.

The bite Dismas was about to take slid off his fork and back onto his plate as her reached over to shake Jericho awake, whom in turn looked over and splashed his face with his mug of tea to help wake himself; unsure of what he was seeing at first. Mina gasped and covered her face with her hands as Marin could only stare in disbelief. Alexander and Yorick looked on, more in interest than shock, at the scene as it rolled past them.

However, it was Agatha, before wanting to show off to the small cook in her own way, who was left utterly speechless and wide eyed at the fallen foe that was now meant to be her breakfast.

Inside the wheelbarrow, laid out on a bed of clean straw, was the upper, more human half of a swinetaur, stripped of its armor and garnished with a few small handfuls of herbs and a thin, stylized glaze along the torso and leading up to the severed head; kept in place with cleanly carved stake and an apple in its mouth.

Had it been half of a pig, or a whole hog, it would have seemed like a great center piece for a feast... but it wasn't a normal pig.

This was an amalgamation of human and swine brought about by one of the ancestor's experiments into whatever it was he had found inside the mansion.

Ebony pushed the wheelbarrow toward the hellion, letting it sit down next to her table, and then smiled up at her and holding out her arms as though she were presenting a great prize. "Pork roast with orange and brown glaze, unstuffed and lightly garnished for show alone." She said.

"Would you like me to carve the first slice, or..." she began, and then drew one of her knives and offered it, handle first, to Agatha, "would you like me to?"

Agatha gulp and stammered, attempting to find words.

It was Yorick who finally spoke. "Cook?" He asked.

Ebony turned her head to the jester and smiled. "Yes?" She asked.

"Where did you find this swinetaur?" He asked.

She blinked at first, and then answered rather nonchalantly. "I issued a challenge and staked a claim, and, a little more than seven hours ago, the Warrens sent one of their champions in response." She explained.

Alexander was the next one to speak. "This bacon you've been serving... is it from that one's..." He began to say, but stopped and glanced over to the vestals.

Ebony turned her head toward him and finished his sentence for him. "Its lower half cooked faster than its upper half, yes. Plus, that part of the body was more familiar to me. I was planning on making this upper half into chum for attracting carnivorous fish for dinner tonight, but then Hellion Agatha here asked for it." She replied in a causal tone.

"And... why have you been feeding us it?" Yorick asked.

Ebony turned her head back to the jester. "It was part of the claim. I told them I would feed the flesh of their champions to mine, you all, if they came to challenge my claim." She answered.

Jericho, who had wiped his face off with the cloth she had given him earlier, stood and moved closer, staggering as he walked and using the tables and chairs for support until. "Y- you're the one... the one who was sp- speaking last night." He accused, his tone a mix of fear and awe.

Ebony turned her head to the occultist and nodded her head. "Again, I'm sorry I kept you awake with that, and, truthfully, I was not expecting a reply so soon." She said, and then turned her head back to Agatha. "Have you lost your appetite? Do you want to change your order?"


	8. Chapter 8: Fanatics

_**Author's Note: A bit more detail into Ebony on this one as well as plans for the next chapter, which characters are going out, and where.**_

 _ **I wanted to write more, I really did, but I do not want to go over 3000 or 4000 words for those who do not have a lot of time to read. I apologize.**_

* * *

Yorick burst out in laughter, pounding the table with one hand as he held his lute in the other. "Finally, one as mad as I! Good show, little girl, good show!"

Jericho, now closer to her, knelt down so that they were closer to being eye to eye. "You're an occultist as well then?" He asked, trembling slightly.

Ebony glanced to her left and right, unsure how to answer at first, before she nodded.

It was then the occultist grabbed her by the shoulders, a large smile on his face. "Where did your search begin? How long have you been at it? What is the icon of the old one you serve?" He asked, visibly retraining his excitement at the unexpected discovery before him.

Ebony blinked her eyes, and then turned her head to the hellion. "It's not cannibalism if you eat it. I've not cooked a human for food in over three decades." She said, and then turned her head back to the occultist. "My search began in the larder of a castle's dungeon two centuries ago, and my icons are my three knives." She answered.

"What is it called? The one you serve?" Jericho requested, knowing better than to ask the name of a being that might as well be a god.

Ebony returned his smile at last. "The Hungerer."

"Hungerer?" He said before releasing her. "I have never heard of that one. Can you tell me more?" He asked.

She was about to reply to Jericho, but then her attention shifted to Agatha as she moved closer to the cooked carcass. She offered her knife again, along with some words of apology. "I've not had time to clean any of the forks, I'm sorry. There is a piece of cloth on the right handle if you need it."

The hellion neither replied or accepted the knife or words, and instead reached for the carcass. Her hand touched the meat, and she was able to pull a thick slab off with easy, dripping with grease, and looked it over for a moment before placing it over her head, opening her mouth, and sliding it in.

As she chewed she turned her head to Ebony, looking down at her, and gave her a stern-faced nod. "It'sh good!" She muffled with her mouthful.

Agatha pulled off another piece and tossed it to Yorick, who caught it, as she finished her first piece and torn off a second.

The jester flipped the piece of meat over in his hands before taking a bite, not eating it whole like the hellion, and chewed and swallowed it faster than she had. "Mmm. It tastes more like lardo than bacon, and melts in the mouth." He noted.

Ebony smiled and nodded her head. "That's from the way I had to cook it." She said before politely gesturing for Jericho to release her. "I had to cut it into pieces, boil the meat while I cleaned the bones, and then apply the sauce to make it look as it does." She said, and then turned back to Jericho. "Did you have anymore questions?" She asked.

"I've got one." Dismas, who had moved in behind them, said.

He placed a hand on the occultist's shoulder and gently urged him to move away, which he did and moved to the table with Agatha and now Yorick, the two of them sharing the meal somewhat.

"STOP THAT!" He barked at the hellion and jester, and they stepped away from the carcass.

Ebony smiled up at the serious-faced highwayman, one hand on his dagger and the other near his pistol. "You staked a claim, issued a challenge, and we're your champions, and you have cooked humans before..." He began, repeating her words from earlier. "If you don't come clean now, I will kill you." He said.

Ebony nodded her head. "Yes to all." She confirmed. "Your occultist, Jericho, seems to be mostly self-taught, but I have trained with cultists of the Hungerer. My devotion and commitment to that great being eventually led to this new body of mine." She said.

He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head at her. "So, you're a high ranking occultist?" He asked.

She nodded her head again. "Rank was never my goal; I just love to cook."

"What gives you the right to call us yours? What is this claim-" He began to say, but paused and looked over when he heard a swallow. He turned his head, and then Ebony turned hers, to see Agatha had taken another piece.

"It's already dead and cooked. We might as well eat it while it's still hot." She informed before she licked her fingers clean.

Dismas let out a defeated sigh before turning back to Ebony. "What's this about us being your champions and your claim to my estate? Last I checked, this land was given to me by a fat bastard of a man and nearly everyone here I am hiring to risk their lives to help recollect what's now mine." He asked with a less threatening and more tired tone.

It seemed he was looking to be done with this matter.

Her smile faltered and she shook her head. "The meaning to the words are in name alone. I am your cook, so long as you will let me cook here, and my part-eldritch body and knowledge allows me to keep the others from sending invaders unless they can kill me." She answered.

"And how did you kill the swinetaur? Those things aren't easy to take down." He asked; glancing annoyingly over to the table to see Jericho now trying a slice.

Her smile returned and she put her hands together in front of herself. "It was fast, but trees do not grow in the Warrens, do they?" She asked, and he shook his head in response. "I left the lance and armor behind the blacksmith's building for him to refine into weaponry and armor, and some of the wood from the tree the pig crashed into. After it did that, it was easy enough for me to bleed it out with small cuts on its legs and belly before I started stabbing it in the neck." She answered.

Dismas blinked her eyes. "You're going to keep fishfolk, swine, brigands, and The Collector from coming into the hamlet?" He asked, straightening and looking at her seriously again.

"Oh no, I can't do anything of the such." Ebony answered in a causal tone, and then continued causally. "They'll just have to kill me before they can start intruding again." She said, and gestured with her hands to the swinetaur body.

He considered her words, and then looked to Jericho. "How much of it is a lie?" He asked.

The occultist shook his head. "She called us her patrons, promised to feed us whatever came from the other regions, and she did say she staked her claim on the behalf of her master: you." He answered, but then looked at Ebony with a curious frown. "What is this contract you mentioned, if that was your voice speaking last night? And the bits about protecting and providing, feeding and eating, and patrons?" He asked.

She turned to Jericho then. "My contracts are the meals I prepare, and the other are bits are the details. As long as I am given ingredients, I will protect; as long as I can eat, I will feed you; and even if I'm the only one cooking, aren't the rest of you bringing me food to cook?" She answered.

"You mentioned your body is not normal and part eldritch?" Jericho asked.

Ebony nodded. "Yes. I've had this body for..." She paused for a moment to think. "More than a hundred years, I'm sure. I do not recall the last time I had to sleep or felt tired, and it all started with my first live interaction with the Hungerer." She answered with a smile.

"Absolutely astonishing..." The occultist was in awe at what he was hearing, and it showed in his eyes and on his face. "Can we talk more of this?" He asked, but then quickly turned to Dismas. "She has not tried to hurt any of us, and she even killed a swinefolk that came into the hamlet. She can be trusted for at least a week, can't she?" He said, taking a step forward as he spoke.

Dismas looked between the two of them, Ebony and Jericho, and then turned his head to their religious companions. "Can the three of you keep this secret... at least for a week?" He asked.

The three of them, remaining silent and watching and listening as the other spoke, looked to one another.

"Those items in the chapel are yours then?" Alexander asked, referring to the hag's items.

"They are amazing pieces of equipment, aren't they?" Ebony began, taking on a whimsical tone. "The cauldron is made of cast iron with a copper bottom that has merged with it over years of use, the ladle has a rubber handle with a screw drilled at the end to keep it in place and prevent burning, the satchels of spices are magically enchanted to preserve whatever is placed into them, and the blocks are marble with a lovely ash covering." She spoke passionately on the topic, her body language matching her tone and making her seem like more like a love-struck fool; even shuffling her feet and acting gitty. "And the depth, of the depth of that beautiful cauldron... I could boil a whole hog, a small net of fish, and a plentiful helping of vegetables for a stew that could last the whole day!"

Unable to fully contain herself, she began hopping in place. "Stew, meat and vegetables, oatmeal with fruit chunks! I could even bake bread and steam broil a crate of corn in it! AT THE SAME TIME!"

If any of them were still considering her an immediate threat to them, those thoughts were changed, if not dashed, by her enthusiasm.

Alexander cleared his throat... twice before Ebony stopped and looked at him. "You want them cleansed?" He asked.

Ebony nodded her head. "Oh yes! Right now, it's only good for broth. Anything else might make people sick, but it would be okay to feed to the wildlife, since most of them are already infected and corrupted." She explained.

"So... about the other three?" Dismas asked, referring to their new recruits.

"That's up to the nurse. I only know how to make healthy food. Unless you want me to grade their meat quality." Ebony assured him. "Any more questions? I can get to work on lunch if not." She added as she looked from one face to another.

* * *

Those still eating their breakfast returned to it and began leaving the tavern once they finished. Other than the occasional question here and there, there were few disturbances, leaving Ebony able to returned to the kitchen and begin cleaning and preparing it for lunch.

Partly for lunch and also to fulfill the promise she made to the barkeeper, but she did not work alone.

Jericho, the occultist, was there to assist her by peeling potatoes, and to speak with her more about the Hungerer; as well as learning the name of what he had discovered and devoted years of study to.

"Are you not happy with the Dark Void?" She asked as she paused from her dish washing for a moment. "Most of the old ones are much the same with some tiny difference in what they do to kill time. The Dark Void is more of an assassin to its own kind, hunting down dangerously aspiring horror, while the Hungerer, always hungry, lives in a more hibernation manner." She explained briefly.

Jericho shook his head before he placed the freshly peeled potato down and reached for a new one. "No, it is not that. There is just so much I do not know, and you posses more than I may ever know. Last night, you spoke to the eldritch from miles away, and I am only able to sense the presence of nearby foes after a communing ritual." He replied. "Also, while my studies have made my body frail, you seem to have grown stronger." He added.

"The Hungerer demands food always. It's not just knowledge I have to have, but the ability to prepare and serve food of all kinds; large and small, delicate and tough." She said, and then her voice became a little distant. "Self-preparation, cooking one's own flesh and body, shows dedication not to the Hungerer but to the desire and passion of cooking." She turned her head to him and smiled. "I practiced on fresh corpses and live pigs."

Jericho cut his own finger and flinched, dropping the potato on the ground. He wrapped his finger in the sleeve of his robe and stared at her. "What!?"

She frowned, dried her hands off, and went to pick up the potato before replying to his question. "It was a great honor, really." She began as she looked over the vegetable. "Although, I was prepared to die that day, it had other plans for me."

"You expected to die?" He asked.

Her smile returned and she nodded. "Yep, but there was regret in those fleeting moments. It was to be the final meal I served." She declared proudly. "But I still wanted to cook more meals, to serve more people, to learn and create new recipes." She added with a less enthusiastic tone. "I see the world differently compared to others, but not by much."

"How do you see the world?" Jericho asked with an uneasy tone.

"Livestock, crops, and patrons." She admitted. "My views just changed over time, but that's about it. As a person, as a human, I am still that girl handing out fresh bread and boiled vermin in the slums." She went quiet for a moment, and then moved to resume washing the dishes.

A short time later, she added. "I've always loved cooking, and so I've always searched for reasons to cook."

* * *

With the tavern's kitchen cleaned, the dishes washed, and a large pot of potato stew cooking outside the tavern, Ebony noticed a commotion in the hamlet's center. It looked like a meeting of sorts as there were townsfolk and some fighters present.

She blinked and was able to identify a number of faces, but the speaker was not one familiar to her.

It was a large, muscular, balding man with a staff on his back, a maul at his side and a book at the other, and a wrist band of stakes on his left arm. He turned somewhat to the side, exposing a number of medallions and talismans decorating the top of his robe, the left shoulder protected by a pauldron of iron, and revealing the numerous scars on his face.

The thing that caught her eye the most was a collection of garlic around his neck, extras hanging off across his chest.

She could not hear everything he was saying, but he was speaking loudly enough for her to pick up a few words and to identify his fanaticism tone.

"He won't be a patron..." She muttered, and then returned to her work.

She had dealt with people like that one in the past, most of them calling her a monster or demon for her looks alone. Some were justified in their claims, others went to extraordinary means to gain support from the populace against her, and there were those who tried to take matter into their own hands.

She poured herself a sampling of stew into a small glass, drank it, and then nodded to herself. The stew was finished, and now it was time to serve it.

She liked the idea of using the wheelbarrow as a means of transporting food, and, with plenty of vegetables, she had a mighty vegetable stew with pork bone broth prepared. It also helped to move the pot and the bowls to the crowd.

Hopefully, they'd be a hungry lot.

* * *

" **-it is their blood! The heresy within their very veins! That must be purged by fire so that their bodies may be cleansed before they return to God!** " The fanatic shouted over the crowd, earning gasps of shock and terror as he preached. " **You need only look upon my face to see the horrors of our once renowned nobility! Now tainted and made into monsters by the very blood they so crave!** "

As he spoke, Ebony ignored him, for the most part, and maneuvered her wheelbarrow, around the crowd toward the back, trying to stay out of direct sight of the crowd.

More importantly, she wanted to stay inconspicuous toward the fanatic. She wanted to serve food, not be rambled at by a madman with a religious agenda.

" **If any of you have met these creatures, seen them or been attacked by them, step forward and I will test you in the Lord's name! Do this not for yourselves, but for your friends! Your family! Your neighbors and those yet to be cursed!** " The fanatic preached.

Once she was behind the crowd, Ebony poured out a number of stones and coals underneath the wheelbarrow, making a small fire pit to keep the soup warm. Rock soup was, as far as her recipe went, involved using heated stones and rocks, smoothed and rinsed of dirt and grime, to help heat the soup. Sometimes, for extra spices, she used salt rocks, calcium, or other such minerals in place of stones and rocks.

" **Are they any among who have been bitten, stung, or met with one of these bloodsuckers!?"** He called out, looking over the crowd. " **You there!** " He called, pointing to the back of the crowd. " **Come forth and be-** "

"Wait your turn, please!" Ebony shouted back as she climbed onto the barrow and began pouring a bowl of soup. "I hope you're all hungry! Vegetable soup with pork bone broth, heated with stones!" She informed, and then added. "Don't worry, the stones are rather large."

There was some hesitation, she was used to it, but then one stepped forward and she handed him a bowl and a spoon.

As he took a few sips, she poured another, and more of the crowd lined up or began passing bowls along.

" **What manner of creature are** **you!?** **"** The fanatic called. **" You're still is pale and your limbs are misshapen! Are you among the monsters!?" **He demanded, pointing toward her with his now drawn staff.

Ebony looked up at him from his place on the platform, and then said something to one of the people before she carefully climbed off the barrow. The spectator poured a bowl for her, and she took it and carried it to the fanatic, holding it up and offering it to the man.

The fanatic's eyes narrowed as she approached and her could better make her her form. He knelt down, placing one hand on his knee, and laid his staff on the platform.

He stared at her, his eyes narrow and his smile not at all warming. " **What is your name... creature?** " He asked her.

"My name is Ebony, sir. I am a cook, or chef, for Lord Dismas." She informed.

" **And what manner of creature are you? "**

"I'm not human, if that's what you're asking." She answered withing a second thought.

He seemed to mumble over this, considering something, and tilted his head. " **I will test you in the name of God. Do not fear, for you are of kind heart and noble intent. "** He said before rising to his feet, ignoring her offer of food.

Ebony frowned at him before pulling her arms back and glancing at the bowl. "Are you not hungry then? I didn't see you in the tavern for breakfast, so I just thought-"

" ** _So soma no nee nah loa._ " **He began to chant, taking hold of his book in his other hand and opening it up. The pages began moving by themselves, turning as he spoke, and the head of his staff began to glow an eerie yellow. " ** _Lo la noma lo._ "**

She rolled her eyes before turning around, holding out the bowl and offering it to any who'd take it as he went on. Someone did, thankfully, and she turned back to the fanatic and smiled a lopsided smile.

The man took a deep breath, and finished his chant. When he did, the head of his staff turned dim, and he waved it over the crowd. The light remained dim, but then turned brighter as he passed over Ebony before dimming again.

He swept it back over Ebony, her expression unchanging, and his smile grew as he lowered the head toward her; the light growing in intensity until it was right above her head and as bright as an open lantern.

The fanatic then looked to the people of the crowd. " **Cast down the offering of this demon! She is cursed and will be cleansed! "** He shouted, and the crowd, awe struck by this, did as they were told.

Ebony's smile faded as she frowned and turned her head to her left and right, looking at the wasted food. "You could still eat that. It's just broth and chopped vegetables." She said, and then turned her head back to the fanatic. "You mentioned burning, I think? I take it that will be burning at the stake?" She asked.

* * *

While the events in the square were going on, preparations for the next expedition were underway.

Dismas had sent word to Alexander, Jericho, and Wallace that the four of them would be going into the courtyard to deal with these pestering insects.

Smoking broken pieces of wood had kept them at bay, but now it was blatantly obvious they would have to deal with this problem at the source.

What they would face in there... he did not know, and so provisions would have to be taken in abundance. He would have to dip into his own private coffers to fund it, but this was something that would need to be done.

He took a deep breath, and looked outside his window.

The sun was turning to noon, they quickly get something to eat before heading out to the courtyard, and then there was the matter of the caretaker's stagecoach. By the look of things, there was some kind of gathering, possibly from the cloister or commune of the chapel.

He put his head in his hand, the stress of the morning getting to him, and he shook his head.

He needed to get some fresh air...


	9. Chapter 9: Fanactism

_**Author's Note**_ : _Next chapter will be posted within the week. I just wanted to avoid this being 4k words._

* * *

The fanatical man knelt down from atop the platform, moving himself closer to Ebony to get a better look at her; the menacing smile remaining on his face. " **Eager to return to your dark masters, aren't you?** " He asked her.

The cook shook her head. "You have to die before you can live, sir. As a man of God, have you not been reborn as well?" She answered with her own question.

" _What's she talking about?_ " One of the crowd asked.

The fanatic's smile faltered, giving way to a narrowed face, and looked back toward the crowd, specifically the one who had spoken. He blinked and took a breath before smiling and addressing the person. " **She speaks of the Lord's forgiveness from sin, being reborn of mind and spirit!** "

Another spoke up a few moments later. " _Need we be forgiven for eating her food?_ "

The fanatic rose, pushing himself up with a hand on his knee and the other on his staff. " **Prayer and fasting are required of all of you whom have eaten from this creature's hands, but, as for it...** " He said, and turned to look down at Ebony once more. " **The Lord's fire is the only thing that can cleanse your body and save your soul!** " He said, and then swept his arm out; indicating the crowd. " **A pyre must be prepared! This creature of pale skin and deformed limbs will burn until the flames die out, and then, only if it still lives, will we know it has been cleansed of its corruption!** " He said.

Ebony held up her arm and wiped it, calling for his attention. "My name is Ebony, sir! I do not identify as male or female, but I am female by birth." She informed. "What are you anyway? A bishop, priest, pastor, or monk?" She asked.

" **I am Minister Daniel of the Holy See, Ebony.** " He replied, giving her a toothy grin. " **You do not seem to fear what is about to happen to you.** " He noted. " **Do you believe you will be saved? None are beyond the Lord's forgiveness, yes, but you must first accept your wrongdoings and seek forgiveness.** " He said. Despite the words, there was no comfort or warmth to them; this was a man that believed in divine intervention to survive certain death.

Ebony nodded her head. "Would I not have to have first committed a crime?" She asked. "Is my form a crime against your god that deserves pleading forgiveness? Am I not defined by my actions and deeds? How is my rebirth into a new form a sin while yours is not?" She asked.

" **And what of your past?** " The fanatic, now known as Daniel, asked her. He knelt down toward her again, but this time he reached down with his free right hand and placed it on her left shoulder. " **What of the sins of your past!?** " He asked loudly, nearly shouting, his expression showing his rising anger at her.

Several people in the crowd shuttered at the minister's sudden outburst.

His grip on her tightened, his smiled turned into an angry glare, and he pulled her up and onto the platform with him. " **Have you not seen yourself!? You are marked by a force beyond mere mortal men and women!** " He shouted before he let his staff drop to the platform's floor.

With a quick motion of his powerful hand, he rend the clothing, armor and apron, from off her... revealing her naked form to all.

An uneasy silence spread through those gathered, the crowd staring wide-eyed at her back and the minister at her front. All were unsure of what it was they were looking at, or even if it was real.

Ebony's body was ivory-white, yes, but the texture of it visibly changed before her elbows and knees. She had a pair of small breasts of smooth skin, no nipples or nubs of the such. From her shoulders to her elbows and thighs to her knees was a more scaly appearance. Along her torso and stomach it was a more leathery texture before it changed into what looked like a large maw, much like an alligator's, that went from the middle of her back to just below her breasts.

Perhaps most startling was that the 'lips' of this maw appeared to be inverted, stretched opened so the teeth were side by side.

She blinked at him, a bland expression overtaking her face, and spoke blankly. "What's wrong?" She began in a monotone voice. "Have you never seen an eldritch creature before?" She asked.

She did not struggle, she did not reach for his arm, but she did not take her yellow iris orbs from his shadowy eyes.

Finally, after she had spoke, the fanatic raised his left hand to his right shoulder, pulled his mantle from his shoulders, and began wrapping her in it.

She did not fight him, or even glance to his hand, but she did not help him either.

" **You may be too far gone, but I will personally see to it you are tested by God.** " He said, and then paused for a moment to look at the crowd. He scanned over the people, their numbers dwindled slightly, before shouting to them. " **GATHER WOOD!** " He shouted. " **A PYRE IS NEEDED!** "

* * *

The four met up a few hours after noon in front of the stagecoach as the newest recruits, three builders and a craftsman, finished unloading their supplies and tools. They weren't fighters, but their skills would serve the hamlet well in its rebuilding and fortifications against attacks.

Dismas stepped up to the caretaker and passed him a pouch of coin. "We're going to the courtyard. Give us the standard bundle." He said.

Wallace, the bounty hunter, turned his head to Jericho, the occultist. "Other than the little one who saved us back in the forest, what other monsters exist here?" He asked.

The occultist checked his dagger at his waist, fixing it in place, before answering. "Swinefolk, fishfolk, skeletons, cytoplasm, giant and or rabid wildlife, and, sometimes, actual monsters from the abyss that aren't just mutations of its influence." He said. A moment later, he added one last thing. "There are also bandits and brigands whom roam all parts of the estate, not just the forest."

"Is that so." The bounty hunter replied. "I'll just trust you to mark the ones I need to kill. Otherwise, I'd be hitting the ugly ones." He then drew his axe and hook and chain. "If I can't hit it, I'll bring it to me, and then hit it!" He said with a chuckle.

Alexander clapped the armored man on the shoulder. "Bring them in, and we'll cull them from this world, friend." He said with a chuckle of his own.

Wallace shrugged the hand from his shoulder, taking a step away from the flagellant, and gruffed. "No offense, 'friend', but I think you should stay in the back with the old man. The lord and I will take to the front. You're less clothed than the cultist." He said as he turned his head to Dismas.

The highwayman shook his head. "Actually, you'll be the one protecting Jericho." He said, much to the bounty hunter's dismay. "Alexander will be at the front of our ranks, and I'll be covering him from behind. Believe me," he said as he looked to Alexander and nodded his head, "he can take a hit, and it'll be our foes who regret it if he survives their assault."

"Here you are, my lord." The caretaker said, interrupting their conversation and drawing their attention toward him. "Your packs are full and the horses are ready. We can leave at any time, or stay and enjoy the fading light." He said before cackling.

Dismas nodded and started to get into the stagecoach when Wallace called to him. "What about this old man?" He asked, gesturing toward the caretaker. "The occultist here looks like a spring chicken compared to this geezer." He said.

Jericho and Alexander followed after Dismas into the stagecoach as the caretaker answered for them. "Oh no, I'm not going to be staying there, waiting like a duck for those things." He said before chuckling with a maddening look in his eyes. "I'll be back in five days time to pick the four of you back up and bring you here... if all of you live, that is. It would not be the first time I've taken corpses in my wagon." He added.

Wallace looked back at the other three, his comrades, and tilted his head questioningly, unsure of how to take that.

Alexander was the one who spoke. "The Lord tests us all in different ways. We will put our trust that the caretaker will return for us, as he has in the past, and we will trust in Him and ourselves to be made stronger from this trial."

* * *

She was cocooned inside a bundle of cloth, the material varying from linen, burlap, and cotton, and carried by, most likely, the fanatic minister, Daniel.

She had noticed the change in his unseen posture and movements, the way he spoke, the way he moved her, the immediate action of hiding her from the people, and so on. Either he had been expecting her to be more like the creatures of the estate, scaly like a fish or with some kind of vegetation growing on her, or pale or partially decaying with her skin stretched out over her skin.

Ebony was not like those of the estate; she was more developed than any creatures and monsters likely to be encountered.

If she were a normal human, she would likely have suffocated from within her confines. With the way she was packed in, barely able to move, it would be difficult to adjust her position to get comfortable.

She would have to wait for the cloth to be burned away, at least somewhat, before she could get out... if she even chose to. It was more likely she would let herself drop onto the wood and wait there until the fire died out on its own.

Her physical secret was out, and, after today, would likely spread to the rest of the hamlet. If they did not force her out, they would likely not want her to touch their food or accept any food she offered.

It might be better to leave the hamlet tonight, after the crowd had dispersed, and go into the wilderness to attempt to bargain for residency with the swinefolk, fishfolk, brigands, or even whatever lived in the courtyard. The undead were unlikely to need her services, and the manor was out of the question.

The lord of the manor was no longer an option for her, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

Her thoughts were only briefly disturbed when she felt something constricting her in three places, her head, torso, and legs, and something pressing against her back, but then her thoughts returned to where she would go next once it was over.

Outside her cocoon, she heard the ramblings of the fanatic, but the words were next to nothing to her.

The swinefolk would likely be at arm's length after last night, assuming they cared one of the champions were missing, and the fishfolk might not approve of her cooking. The brigands would be her best choice, but there was the problem with the members of the Weald; helping to kill the hag and stealing her equipment might have put her on a watch-list of some kind there.

The courtyard was her best immediate bet for her protect-provide pact.

Her thoughts were once more interrupted when she felt something being dumped on her. By the thickness and smell of it as it penetrated the cloth, she had been doused in some kind of oil or accelerate for the fire.

She wiggled in her cocoon, trying to get comfortable, and waited for the fire to start. There was little point in leaving now.

* * *

"Are you finished with the cleansing rituals?" Chris, the abomination, asked from the other side of the chapel doors. "The cook, a small one with pale skin named Ebony, would have dropped them off." He added.

He was not normally welcomed within the grounds, the more religious and faithful finding his presence uncomfortable and worrisome, so he tended to come by only when there were few around.

While his mindset was somewhat different from the others, he did believe in higher powers that controlled fate. After the things he had seen, fought, and been a part of, and were a part of him, there had to be at least two, one more benevolent or malevolent than the other, that held sway over the world as they knew it.

A voice came from the other side of the door, along with a bolt being unhinged, as the door opened and the priest stood before him. "The utensils and pouches have been rinsed in holy water and sprinkled with anointing oils." He said before he stepped out of the way.

Chris watched him, curiously at first, and then shook his head as the priest held out his hand for him to enter.

When he did not, he let his arm fall to his side. "These items were cursed by hexes I have never seen before, but I can no longer feel the spirits' aura around them." He informed, and then took a step away from the door. "You may come in, child. I have taken an oath to not turn away those who search for the Lord, and I know yours is one of persistence even when others would turn away."

The abomination shook his head again, but smiled gratefully at the elder. "That means more to me than you may ever know, but I do not wish to cause any trouble for you." He informed before he adjusted the chains and manacles on his person. "Whatever tools you are finished with, I would like to take to Ebony. With all due respect pastor, you are old, and-"

The priest held up his hand to silence him, and returned the smile in kind. "I was once a warrior monk, and, I can assure you, my final days are not upon me yet. If you will wait here, I will get the equipment for you. Unfortunately, the cauldron will still take some time." He said, and then looked cautiously toward another room. "There is something... else about that item."

"What do you mean?" Chris began to ask. "It is just a very large pot, yes?"

"There is something about it that frightens me... and tempts me." The priest began. "I've been feeling drawn to it, thoughts of climbing into and sitting in it have plagued my mind when I am near it, and I have heard a calling." He said, and then took a breath and shook his head. "I hesitate to work on it anymore today, and so I have locked it into the far room." He added.

Chris only blinked at the elder before he opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. This man knew better than he about these things, and Ebony had requested these things for a reason. Instead of speaking, he nodded his head in understanding. "I can take the other equip to her if you are finished with them then." He offered.

The priest looked back to him. "That would be appreciated, thank you." He began. "I was only asked if I could drop them off at the tavern or arrange for them to be brought there when I finished. Where is she staying anyway? Is she staying in one of the rooms of the brothel, or has she pitched a tent on the cliff overlooking the hamlet?" He inquired.

"Ebony... likely is staying at the tavern." He said simply. "She is an insomniac, of sorts, and likes to pass the time by preparing meals."

"I see." The priest said, and then went to gather the items in question, leaving the abomination at the door for a few of minutes. When he returned, he carried a small sack with him, it's opening tied around itself, and offered it to the abomination. "If that is all, I will be returning to my home for the day." He said.

Chris accepted the sack and stepped out of the priest's way, watching for a moment as he closed and locked the door to the chapel. "How is her cooking, anyway?" The priest began. "Walk with me and tell me about her. I get the feeling the two of you have a past, and I am interested in-"

Suddenly, there was a shuffling from within the chapel.

Chris tilted his head and looked at the priest. "Are there any others inside?" He asked.

The priest shook his head. "No, at least there should not be. Unless... the side door!" He said, and then began shuffling toward the right side of the building.

Chris, carrying the sack, followed suit, ready to move in front to protect the elderly man if need be.

* * *

" **Today, in the eyes of our Lord, we will purge the heresy of taint and evil from the body of this noble soul!** " The fanatic shouted as he addressed the crowd. " **Even if the body is turned to ash and the life fades from it, may peace be upon this lost lamb's soul and it be taken to the afterlife in the Lord's glorious name!** "

There were cries of sorrow and prayers from the people gathered, fanning the flames of this fanaticism and justifying the act of burning at the stake.

While the minister was the one throwing the fuel and kindling onto the fire, it was the townsfolk offering what they had to help. Flasks of oils to ignite the flames, bundles of straw and hay for fuel, stalks of died wheat as kindling, torches, coals, and flint and steel, these and more were gather from their abodes and the surrounding area and passed on to the fanatic as he rambled and preached.

From within her bindings, Ebony was already rehearsing her lines of greetings and introductions for her journey to the courtyard. As unlikely as it was, she was still willing to give it a try and see if the residents there would take her in for a least a trial.

" **Pour out the soup that was offered! Cast it out from our fair town so that none are tempted to partake of it!** " That part did make her groan, but otherwise she remained silent and complaisant. Wasting food was one of her pet-peeves, after all. " **And bury the pot within the ground so that it may be forgotten to time!** " And now he was just being ridiculous...

Despite the silliness of his claims, the people were too spooked by what they had seen of his battle scars and her body to object, and did as they were told. A number of them had even gotten soap and buckets of water for themselves and others to wash their mouths, fearful of some corruption befalling those who had sampled the soup.

" **Back away! All of you! Lest you be burned by mistake!** " The fanatic shouted as he took hold of one of the provided torches.

As the people did, taking a few steps away to a safe distance, he moved the torch to his plated shoulder and swiftly swept it across the metal. Like striking a match, the head of the torch lit up immediately, and he held the burning rod to the pyre before dropping it in.

As the wheat kindling caught, crackling and swooshing to life thanks for the oils, he stepped away, toward the stairs of the platform as he covered his face with his arm, and began chanting a prayer in a foreign tongue. The flames seemed to react to his words, growing and growling feverishly in a low tone as they curled around the post and licked at the bound captive, the cloth quickly catching fire as well but the ropes holding strong.

He took hold of his staff in his left hand and his tome in the right, opening the book and tapping his staff against the wood as he recited the words from memory.

For Ebony, her thoughts were once more interrupted, but this time her attention was also drawn away and toward a more pressing matter. The heat of the flames did not bother her, she had cooked over bonfires before, and breathing was something she only did when she had to speak.

Another champion had come to the hamlet, but it was not here to challenge her claim. Instead, it felt as though it had come for another purpose.

She turned her head and looked toward where she sensed the intruder, looking toward the chapel of the hamlet. She did not know what to expect from the intruder, trouble or if it was just looking around, but she debating whether or not going after it.

She had made her pact with at least a handful of the inhabitants of the hamlet, primarily the fighters, and so she would have to fulfill her promise of protecting them if it attacked anyone.

The fire ate away at the cloth, revealing her to the crowd once more, and the ropes soon after, but she did not fall. Instead, when the ropes snapped, she wrapped her arms and legs around the post, continuing to watch the chapel.

" **Look toward the holy ground in the final moments!** " The fanatic minister called, but she did not so much as glance in his direction. " **Do not turn from the light, but stare into it with unblinking eyes!** " He added.

It was a familiar feeling, not from the swinefolk, but it was still different. She had felt a similar feeling when they had fought the hag... perhaps it was a servant to the forest witch come to reclaim what was stolen from its mistress.

* * *

 _ **... hatred... virago...**_

Those two words filled her mind.

 _ **The mother... daughter slain... pot lost...**_

That was the champion's goal? To retrieve the cauldron?

 ** _Noisy... they come... no witnesses...  
_**

There was a loud, audible snap, and then Ebony was gone from the post. To the most perception of them, they might have been able to see lunge from the post toward the ground and land nearly fifty feet from where they were, and then dashing toward the chapel.

Unarmed, unarmored, and _starving_ there was only one thing in her mind:

One of her patrons had been injured because she did not act immediately...


	10. Chapter 10: Ravenous

**_Author's Note: Skipping the context, getting to the fight. The first rounds are much longer than actual battle ones. I just wanted to use them as a point of reference._**

 ** _Characters: Chris the abomination, male priest (vestal), Ebony, antiquarian, crone, hateful virago._**

 ** _Antiquarian skills in this: Nervous Stab, Get Down!, Flash Powder, and Fortifying Vapours._**

 ** _Priest/ vestal skills: Divine Comfort, Illumination, Hand of Light_**

* * *

 _Round One:_

 **Priest:** He was already fumbling to get the key even as he briskly walked to the back entrance of the chapel; not wanting to trip or stumble over and waste precious time that way. He had no idea who would possibly want to break into the building like this, there was nothing of value kept inside other than tomes and a precious few holy relics gathered by the adventurers and mercenaries throughout the months, and it was even open to all who wished to come in everyday up until the time he left during the evenings. The only thing that came to his mind was one of the monsters searching for easy prey, and even then the farmlands were a better choice.

 **Chris:** He overtook the priest and, loosening the chains around himself, coiled the slack around his arm, preparing them to be thrown at a moment's notice or to simply act as armor against an attack. Alone, he did not cast a very intimidating presence, but most did not know what he truly was. He was no mere human, the scars all over his body and brand on his face told as much, and the eldritch mutation within his veins had another benefit than simply making him stronger and sturdier than most.

 _Round Two:_

 **Antiquarian:** She heard footsteps and the rattling of chains from beyond the wall and moving toward the door she had blocked with a chair, and quickly turned to inform her mistresses. _"They come! Hide yourselves!"_ She whispered before turning her head toward the noise once more. The elder of the two sighed, hissing as it did, and pointed to the other, smaller one. After a brief exchange of only a handful of words, all in a strange tongue and some she wished she did not know, the two entered the adjacent room where what they had come for was and shut the door, but not before leaving their watch with a means to defend herself: a dagger and a mysterious censer of fumes and vapors.

 **Priest:** He moved to unlock the door, but stopped before he touched the knob. The padlock he always used was missing. He stepped away from the door, gestured to it, and took a deep breath before he spoke. " _I know your secret, and I will back you up. God watch over us._ " He said, adding a small prayer under his breath, and took hold of a gilded cross of wood from his waist.

 **Chris:** He stepped toward the door and turned the knob, but the door was stuck closed from the other side. He turned his head to the priest, who gave a single nod, and then used his chain-armored arm to bash the door open with his elbow. It took him a few strikes before could get to the chair that was blocking the door, and then bashed it in half before pushing it in. He held his free hand out, gesturing for the priest to stay back, and scanned the room for anyone.

 _Round Three:_

 **Crone:** There was plenty of fuel for the fire, as well as reagents to use, but it was up to the Virago to direct her in the ritual of transformation and growth. These people were a disease upon the land, cutting down the trees and exhausting the natural resources. They called the Coven of Witches and Daughters of the Hidden Moon cultists, corruptors of the forest and its groves, but they were more like druids, seeking to return the rule of the estate to nature. First, personally, it was time for the crone to move up in the ranks, and become like her elder sister and mistress.

 **Virago:** Such a troubling week... First, the youngest daughter of the Great Mother is killed by a group of thugs, and then her supplies, most importantly the mother's cauldron, are taken from the forest and into the this 'civilized' domain. The precious few pots they had made, enchanted by the Mother's own hand, and losing even one meant their progress of nature's restoration would greatly slow. To say nothing of the materials and time taken to craft the pots, the reagents to enchant them took months to gather and prepare.

Secondly, a new servant of another great one had come, and she had the gawk to call the estate her territory. Should this servant of the Hungerer enter the Weald again, it would be the final trespass she made. Perhaps the brigand leader could deal with her and the rest of the town, but those brutes were driven by their own greed and generally unwilling to work with the cult unless there was something in it for them...

 **Antiquarian:** She had to buy her mistresses time for the elder one to change the younger if she wanted to continue her own research into power of this land and the knowledge within. The cult, the coven really, was a means to that end. For what she wanted, she would do anything, even if she had to bloody her own hands.

The door was struck, an arm plunging through the thin wooden door, and she hid within the confession booth; waiting to ambush. As she waited, she examined the dagger, more of a knife really, and the contents of the censer; some crushed charcoal and ground herbs with a few embers inside. These did not contain the same powders and spores of the Weald, a good thing in her mind as she did not want to become like those creatures, but she knew how to use the vapors and fumes produced by burning specific herbs. In her hands, these were decent enough tools.

 **Chris:** Once inside and after looking around, he did not see anything that drew his attention immediately, and he was not sure what was changed, if anything was. Other than the door being blocked, all seemed normal enough. The pews and benches were all in order as far as he could tell, so he turned his head to the priest, hoping he might see something different.

 **Priest:** He stepped inside after the abomination and took in the surroundings. There was only one thing out of place, and he pointed it out. " _That door; it was open when I left. It is were I keep relics for purification and cleansing rituals._ " He informed, and then stepped past Chris only to be stopped and gently pushed back toward the door. He was confused for a moment, but then nodded his understanding. " _I am sorry. You go ahead, and I will provide support as best as I can._ "

 _Round Four:_

 **Crone:** After a moment of thoughtful recollection, she was ready for the pot's embrace. Carefully, she climbed into the partially filled pot of oats and water. She wore only her cloak and carried a small dulled knife and a doll, made from materials inside the room, in her hands. Around the cauldron, piled for kindling, were broken pieces of wood, shredded clothes, and torn pages; not perfect for their ritual, but they would do. She sat within the iron confines and did not move even as a lid was placed over the top and latched shut above her.

 **Virago:** A small curse escaped her lips when she heard the clack of the latch, it's sudden, deep sound echoing in the silence, and she made haste to start the fire beneath the pot. As the kindling took flame and began burn, she began to recant and chant the words and invocation of the ritual.

From death comes life.

Four simple words that meant defined their beliefs. It was only in death that life could be reborn, and only those who embrace the truth of that grim fate may be allowed to keep their minds while the rest are given to Nature after their rebirth. This younger had seen the truth years ago, and their watch would take the younger's place in rank if this ritual went undisturbed and completed.

 **Antiquarian:** She consider her options and chose her safest option: a satchel of flashing powder and took a deep breath. She was no fighter, she was a researcher, and it was impossible for her to completely stop her uneasy shaking, let alone hold a weapon in a fight. Still, for her research, she would do anything to further her goals. Grasping at the small pouch within the larger pack at her hip, she moved from her hiding spot, quickly identified the larger threat, the one with the chains, and hurled the pouch at the man's head.

 **Chris:** Something struck him in the head, spreading a fog of dust around him before it began to flash like light reflecting off the surfaces of a million tiny mirrors. The effect was blinding, painful at first, and forced him to close his eyes as he tried to find his bearing once more. He stumbled, taking careful steps, before he began feeling around for something to hold onto as he rubbed his eyes.

 **Priest:** Shocked by the sudden attack but unaffected by it otherwise, the priest turned toward the direction the thing had come from to see a cloaked figure near the confession booth. " _You there!_ " He called as he held up his cross in one hand and made a gesture with the other. " _Illumination!_ " He spoke, loudly and clearly, and a flash of light flared into existence near the booth.

He was past his prime, his heart already beating fiercely in his chest, and he had to remind himself to stay calm.

 _Round Five:_

 **Crone:** The air grew thin and barely breathable, but she continued with her part of the ritual. She used her dagger to cut hair from her hair, strips of flesh and meat from her legs, and the soles from her feet. With this material, the hair was tied to the doll and used to hold the other pieces of her body to it, the soles of her feet cut into halves and wrapped around the dolls arms and legs, and the meat stuffed into the doll's belly, and the flesh wrapped around the doll's torso to seal it.

It was bloody work, painful had she not already been wrapped in a trance, and her hands were slick with her own blood and sweat. Her cloak, now sticky with stains of crimson and growing mold, served only as a rag to wipe her hands on... but she could already feel it becoming a part of her back as fungus roots dug into her skin.

The final part of the ritual required the swallowing, no chewing, of the doll. As she worked it down her throat through careful muscle movements, she pulled her cloak closed around her form, like freezing child would a blanket, and waited for her new life to come from her old one's death.

 **Virago:** They were loud, but at least they did not interrupt the incantations. Soon, she and the coven would have a new sister to aid in the reclaiming of the land, the killing of the corruptors and foresters, and the nurturing of the life that will grow from their fresh corpses.

The one thing of concern was that that servant of the Hungerer. She knew they were here; she could feel the eyes of that one on her. If she was not reacting now, perhaps that meant the servant was too busy to stop them. In which case, it would be possible to have a little fun of her own.

 **Antiquarian:** She screamed and retreated back into the booth when the light burst into existence. She had been expecting an attack of some kind from range, a crossbow bolt or an arrow or a blade, but not a sudden light. Her eyes teared up and she had to collect herself, crouching and hiding within the thinly wooden structure. She held her censer in one hand as the other moved to the dagger, making herself a more difficult target.

 **Chris:** The initial surprise gone, he let out a roar, beastly in nature and furious in tone, as he let the eldritch blood in his veins flow freely; changing and altering his form until he stood a head taller than before, his arms and shoulders nearly twice as thick and broad as before, and his hands morphed into claws; the left one much larger than the right to the extent that the chains broke off of them. Such a sight, a man turning into a beast, was not without notice and, needless to say, unnerving to the priest who gasped and stumbled over himself as he took a step back; even turning his cross to the abomination.

He turned his angry eyes turned toward the confession booth, and then he charged toward it, head down and horns out, and ran straight through it, smashing the wood apart and just missing the woman hiding within. Had she not ducked low, he would have impaled her.

 **Priest:** He knew Chris was not a normal man, that tainted blood flowed through him, but he did not know such blood made him into a demonic beast. He took a deep breath, attempting to regain and strengthen his nerves... but he failed to do so.

His courage broke at the sight of the unholy creature his companion had turned into, and his mind told him that whatever had hit him must have sped the mutation along. " _God help us! God help us all!_ " He shouted as he ran recklessly out the door from fear.

With labored, panicked breathing, he found the strengthen and reflex to run away from the fight.

 _Round Six:_

 **Crone:** She lost consciousness and ran out of breathable air, but her posture remained as she sat up, hands in her laps, doll resting in her stomach, and the final stages of the ritual beginning. The air within the cauldron fed the now festering rot that grew on her body and in her lungs. The fungus began to sprout and grow from all over her skin and flesh, the mushrooms growing and producing spores on exposed and covered skin to further the spread.

She did not die, at least not all at once. It was more precise to say that as her body died it came alive again in a different form.

 **Virago:** She put her head near the cauldron, not enough to touch it but enough to just tell that its inhabitant had succumbed to the heat and began to fester and become like herself. There was no need for her to remain any longer, and so she turned her attention to the noise that had been so irritating her.

She opened the door, and stepped outside, never looking away from the scene before her. The imposing creature, the wrecked hiding spot of their watch, the old man running away and out the door, and the the researcher woman holding her censer in one hand and reaching for her dropped dagger with the other.

It was a pathetic sight, but not the first time she had seen it. After all, the researcher, hers and her younger's watch, was not yet indoctrinated into the coven.

 **Antiquarian:** Her eyes were wild with fear as a sudden beast, like a goat on two legs, tore through the wooden booth with ease, just missing her as its bulky, muscular legs carried its much larger torso and deadly arms inches from her. The horns, from what she could see in the moment, were like spears or lances. She did not know where that man with the chains had gone, but she was too terrified to look as she fled her ruined hiding spot.

Swiftly, acting without thinking, she made a mad crawl toward the door in time to see it open and the Virago exit the room. Her eyes went wide and she smiled with joy as she crawled to her feet and ran toward her mistress; seeking safety within the stronger female's presence.

 **Chris:** He let out another roar, letting the eldritch rage wash over him, and turned his attention to his prey as it scurried away. He breathed heavily as he stomped his now hooved feet into the wooden floor, much like a bull preparing to charge, and his eyes locked first on the figure crawling away and then to the one, new and larger, at the door the priest had pointed out.

In his feral, maddened mind, he identified the one on the floor as weak, and so he turned his head and lowered it, horns out and left hand to the ground, and charged toward the taller one. His claw dug into the wood, tearing planks from it, and furthered increased his momentum.

He wanted- NO! He needed its blood to soak his fangs and claw-like hand! There was no stopping him, and, when he hit, his claw would rake against flesh.

 _Round Seven:_

 **Virago:** She did not care about the weaker female's cowardliness, and so she did not stop moving forward even as the other one fled behind her. She took a deep breath, and then released a gas of noxious, poisonous breath toward the demonic creature. Care had to be taken to avoid attracting the immediate attention of the servant of the domain, it did promise to protect its patrons after all, and she had to first find out if this was one of those patrons.

However, she had no time for patience for a beast out for blood. Poison was, after all, deadly only if left untreated for an extended period, and the wounds she'd take from this creature were insignificant at best.

 **Antiquarian:** She took another pouch of her flashing powder, her last one before she had to make more, and tossed it at the charging demon. Her aim was off, not striking it in the head, but she did hit the area just in front of it. The powder flashed on impact, creating a small bang as well that deafened it, but otherwise did nothing to harm; except perhaps making it angry.

 **Chris:** The powder and vapors stung and clouded his eyes, making it nearly impossible for him to see his prey at the end of his charge, but, by a lucky twist of fate, he felt himself run into something as he swung his left claw, but then he lost his footing and came crashing through the door and into the other room.

He tumbled into something hard and warm, but otherwise he was not hurt enough to prevent him from fighting.

START EDDITING HERE!

 _Round Eight:_

 **Virago:** She dodged out of the way of the beast, but then shrieked in rage when she saw it had burst into the room the younger was in. Their ritual, she knew, had been interrupted, and it would need to be done again with a new source of blood!

So full of anger, she drew her dagger with a flick of her wrist and pulled the straw doll from the belt at her waist. Her eyes locked on the creature of her discontent, and, slowly, she drew the tip of the dagger across the doll from its right shoulder to its left thigh.

 **Antiquarian:** She shrieked in shock as the chained beast charged toward her again; while not actually trying to hit her, being even remotely in its way was scary enough for her. She took a breath after it passed, and then turned to look where he had stopped only to become immediately frightened by what it had hit... she knew the implications of what this meant even without the the angry cry.

 **Chris:** He blinked his eyes, trying to cleanse them, before he felt a cutting pain across his front. It felt like a blade, but, when he swept his claw, there was nothing there and it continued to rake from his shoulder down to his thigh. He roared and kept swiping blindly with his left claw while using his right to feel his way around the wall toward the door.

He had to recollect himself to set his mind right, find out where the priest went, and clear his eyes of whatever was in them.

* * *

She blinked her eyes when she saw someone running from the chapel, and slowed a little but did not stop. The person, an elderly man she recognized as the priest, noticed her as well, but, seeing her as she was without the her clothing, altered his course to avoid her...

But she did not want this intersection to be through looks alone.

She sped up again, running toward the priest, and, being faster than him, was able to run over, trip him, and catch him before he hit the ground; face first but saved by being grabbed by his collar.

She turned him around, jumping over him and twirling in the air, so his back was to the ground and she was on his other side. She then pulled him closer to her face, and her yellow and black eyes locked onto his before she spoke only a few words. " _Get the nurse._ " She said, and then helped him back up onto his feet and resumed her dash toward the chapel.

The priest took a breath, shocked at first, but then calmed himself as he watched the creature run away at a remarkable pace. He was sure she had a large mouth along her body, nearly splitting her in half, but he was unable to tell for sure in his panic and the little time he had to see her.

She stopped suddenly, and he just had this feeling that she had turned her head to look at him... and he heard those words once more; only in his mind.

" _ **Get. The. Nurse.**_ "

And then he started fleeing toward the medical building.

* * *

Ebony ran toward the nearest door she sensed her patron, grabbed onto the door knob with one hand, put her other hand and both feet onto the door, and tore the knob from the frame in one motion.

She landed on the ground with a thud but quickly rose again, pushed the door open, and gripped the door with one hand and the frame with the other as she stared at the scene before her...

 _Her body was not a normal body, but the mouth of her one true master, **The Hungerer**. At the moment, her breasts appeared more like eyes, the skin peeled back and white and black iris locking onto her targets, and her larger mouth, from her crotch to her breasts and continuing to her back, opened slightly, drooling saliva onto the ground and a tongue sticking out to wet her dry lips._

She was hungry, her _**Hungerer**_ was hungry, and all she was the wild livestock fit for slaughter.

* * *

 _Round Nine:_

 **Ebony start:** She grinned widely as both pairs of her eyes locked on the virago, taking note of its body shape and the abnormalities growing from its back. The fungus, for one, caught her eye and her imagination while the slim and lithe arms and waist looked ripe for stuffing and seasoning.

With her mind made up, she dashed forward, past the beast-form abomination, over the tipped cauldron, and under the virago before leaping up from behind it and grabbing onto the virago's mushroom skin with her hands and locking the finger-like toes of her feet on its shoulders... and then began to rip the flesh and skin.

 **Virago:** She ceased her attack on the abomination and instead turned her dagger to stab at the servant on her back and shoulders as it tried to to tear her skin creature's strength was greater than it appeared and she could feel her skin peeling like one would pull a scab off, stretching painfully over her form until she could feel it separating from the rest of her body and blood beginning to bleed.

She stabbed the smaller creature in the foot, and immediately regretted it as the creature's blood, a vile and hateful substance, burned and fester where it touched her. Before she could truly react, the other foot released its grip on her shoulder to grab at her wrist as the injured foot tightened its grip, pricking the toes into the skin, and twisted the dagger from the hand.

 **Ebony:** She twisted the dagger free from its owner's wrist and snatched it with her foot before it could fall, her leg stretching very briefly to allow for the reach, and then used the dagger to slice off the patch of the virago's skin she had nearly ripped free. The virago flailed in pain, trying to shake her off, but her foot's grip was too strong, and the virago only succeeded in swiping her around and under her arm.

Ebony took this chance to stab her newly acquired weapon into its previous owner's armpit, and then slice down its side; washing herself in its blood and opening the virago's body from the side.

 **Antiquarian:** She screamed in horror at the sudden appearance of this new foe and its sudden, brutal actions against her mistress. She raised her censer and shook it toward her mistress, sending a cloud of fortifying vapors to hopefully stop the bleeding and ease her mistress's pain so it could regain some of her strength.

 **Chris:** He rubbed his eyes with his right hand and was able to make out the blurry visions of three characters. There was a tall one, a small one, and a middle-sized one that he could make out as moving, but his heightened sense of smell could pick up the scent of vapors, burning, and a lot of blood.

The sounds of battle told him that the three were fighting, but, in his current condition, his rage was turned to uncertainty, and so he reverted back to his human form; his body shrinking and his hands moving to grab his chains for protection and attack. He took a deep breath and worked his gag reflex until he felt bile rising from the back of his throat, and then spattered the corrosive stomach acids in the general direction of the blurs when he saw the smaller one move aside.

 **Ebony end:** Prize in hand and most of the blood dripped off of it, she rolled the patch of flesh up longways before holding it to her larger mouth. Of its own accord, the mouth opened and took a bite of the fungus covered flesh, the tongue darting out from the top of the jaw to take the rest of it. She stepped back, avoiding the bile from Chris, and tossed the dagger from her foot to her hand.

 _Round Ten:_

 **Ebony start:** She turned her head to Chris, now in his human form, but the larger eyes on her chest were still looking at the virago with a deep hunger in them. " _Hi Chris! Hungry? I'll have something for you in a moment!_ " She said quickly and turned her head back to the virago; now with a weapon, but she had already made her cut.

She dashed back toward the virago, faking it out by stopping short so it could miss it's retaliatory strike, and stepped back to its wounded side. In place, she plunged her hand, up to her elbow and using the other for support, into the grisly wound, and, seeming to delight in the blood that covered her, grasped hold of an organ.

 **Virago:** Pain and torture were not the right words to describe her current situation. Anguish and damnation were perhaps the closest as she was being bled and gutted alive by the smiling, giggling demon near her. She gasped and breathed a cloud of noxious fumes on her attacker, but, rather than react in pain, it giggled and continued its gruesome work.

Did it not care that there was poisoned gas filling its lung? Or was it just that the fumes did not harm it as was fit for a normal creature.

 **Ebony:** Rather than cut the organ out, she pulled the mass of living tissue from the body, exposing it to the air, and swiftly bit it free with the teeth of her head, not her larger mouth, and slipped away from the virago. She tossed the organ, the liver by the looks of it, into the air as she backed away, dropped the dagger back to her foot, and caught it in her hands.

To prepare it for Chris, she briefly massaged the organ, squeezing most of the blood out of it, and then tossed it onto the cauldron. With that done, she stepped toward the virago, and then back flipped away, cutting it from the groin to chest with the dagger in her foot.

 **Antiquarian:** She shrieked in horror as she watched the little monster tear into her mistress, giggling and acting like some kind of cheery girl at play. She raised her censer and dagger in front of her, pointing the censer to her mistress and letting the healing vapors seep out of it while keeping the dagger trained on the creature.

Her hands trembled, and yet her fingers were white where she tightly gripped the handles of the dagger and censer. " _I don't want to die... I don't want to die..._ " She mumbled to herself as she trembled in fear. She wanted to run, but she was afraid to do so. If her mistress and her younger could not fight against this thing, then what could she do if she could not run?

 **Chris:** " _Ebony?_ " He asked. " _You... you came to save me?_ " He asked, perplexed. He was still unable to truly see what was happening, but he could guess. He knew her to be a sturdy and agile creature, but he was worried about the amount of blood he kept smelling and hearing spill.

 **Ebony end:** " _Don't be silly!_ " She called out to her patron. " _I'm here to feed you!_ " She said from nearby the cauldron. She snatched the liver from the pot and moved toward Chris. " _Open wide and don't choke!_ " She said as she leaped toward him, her legs and free arm grappling him to keep herself in place, and shoved the raw organ into his mouth. " _I can't feed unless you eat! And there's a whole pig I have to finish butchering._ " She said with a cute, if not manically, giggle.

 _End of combat:_

The virago, at this point, tried to hobble away to save itself, even going so far as to push the antiquarian toward the creature that had so badly wounded it. It was difficult, instinct to get away clouding its judgement and knowledge that it was about to die, but there was nothing else it could do but try to flee as far from it.

Ebony, after removing her hand from Chris's mouth, let go of him and dropped to the ground, her limbs turning unnaturally to catch her body before her back hit the floor. " _Hey now, where do you think you're going pig?_ " She asked with a smile before beginning to crawl toward the fleeing virago.

Four limbs, things between arms and legs, with a head at one end and tail at the other, stalked toward the mushroom backed virago in its cloak, moving as though it were waiting to leap on top of its prey and begin tearing into its flesh.

The antiquarian's will broke and she shrunk down as Ebony approached her, dropping her censer and dagger to the ground, and put her arms over her head. She shut her eyes as tight as she could and tried not to think of the sounds around her and her encroaching doom.

The man that turned into the beast was chewing and choking, her virago mistress was panting and dying, the small monster was laughing and giggling sadistically, her younger mistress inside the cauldron was dead for all she knew, and there was the scent of burning that still filled the air near the cauldron... and then she heard her dagger and censer drop, bounce, and roll.

The laughter stopped then, followed by a thunk noise, and she felt a hand on her shoulder and a shake. Ebony had stopped her crawling and rose, throwing the dagger from her foot into the back of the virago's head, killing it instantly, and frowned as she looked at the censer.

With care, she bent down and picked it up with reverence, looking it over and moving her hands across its surface. She then looked at the cloaked woman. " _Take better care of this. It's more important than you think._ " She said before pushing the censer between the space at the antiquarian's shoulder and neck. She turned her head, speaking causally but still frowning, and looked at Chris. " _Are you going to be okay? There's more to eat, you know?_ "

" _Are you mad!_ " He called out, gasping for air and coughing. " _You choked me!_ " He said before hacking up a small spray of blood. His chest still hurt from whatever the virago had done, but he was able to stay on his feet thanks to the minor healing he received from turning back into his human form.

Ebony smiled again, her voice becoming more cheerful. " _It's not like I was trying to kill you._ _You know I need my patrons alive so I can feed. Now, sit down, catch your breath, and wait for the nurse to get here. I've got a pig and a cauldron, so I can make meat stew for the two of you._ " The voice said before giggling, and then turned her head to the other woman. " _I'm still hungry... and you two are the only ones that can feed me right now._ "


	11. Chapter 11: Back to Work

_Author's Note: I am going to attempt to restart this._

* * *

"I've not cooked many of the virago cultists, their bodies are partly rotting after all, and the fungus does tend to be poisonous." Ebony said as she cut the cloth from the corpse, revealing its body to the cool air.

The virago's body shape and appearance were that of a middle-aged woman approaching her barren years. The horned skull of the hood sown to the cloak had merged to the human skull, roots penetrating through the fabric and into the skull and base of the spine. She was more of a festering body given life than a living one, evidence made fact by the skin naturally giving off the appearance of fertile soil around the fungus stems.

Ebony let out a sigh and looked genuinely sad by what she saw. "Too far gone... she might as well be a rotting log in the forest." She muttered, and then turned her head to the antiquarian. Her smile returned and she leaned toward the human. "Good news, you're spared the meat dish, but at least I'll have some mushroom soup cooked later tonight." She said.

The antiquarian did little in terms of reaction, even the grip on her dagger and censor was loose as she maintained her fetal position.

"The other one might be bad too." She muttered to herself, and then turned her head to Chris. "I'll look for something to feed you two." She said with a smile.

"Did something happen?" Chris asked. "You seem different from before." He noticed, although he could not put his finger on what it was.

Ebony shook her head. "Not really, I just met a new friend. He seems nice and the enthusiastic type, but _friend_ is probably going to be stretching it." She answered. "He did knock over my dinner though, so I need to make a new one for everyone in the square. Stop by when you've recovered and I'll have something good." She said, and then quickly left out the door.

As soon as she stepped outside, a deft hand snatched her away from the door as a second one closed the door. Her captor moved with grace and silence, befitting her trade, and carried her behind the chapel by the back of her neck.

The move was swift, but not harsh, and the way it happened meant it was planned. She knew the figure by the way it happened.

"Is this about those lessons?" Ebony asked when they were out of her estimated earshot distance from the other two.

"Stay quiet." The graverobber, Elina, snapped.

She had time enough to catch a glimpse of three other figures approaching, two of whom carried themselves with aged legs.

The priest had done his part, thankfully, but why was the other one coming along?

Behind the building, out of sight and quiet, Elina waited to know their actions, mouthed numbers as she counted after she heard the creaking of the door, and then waited another handful of moments before going toward the graveyard.

The _friend_ from before will have to be careful, lest there be a third death of the evening.

* * *

Once the two of them were safely at the graveyard, alone and hidden by the eerie, otherworldly fog, Ebony was placed on top of one of the unused gravestones and watched as Elina leaned herself against another across from her.

There was a glint of polished steel as the grave robber readied a knife just under her sleeve. "I'll try to make this quick: What the hell are you, and what are you doing here?" She asked. She was used to killing monsters, not monsters killing monsters.

The smaller creature smiled nonchalantly. "I'm a traveling cook that prefers downtrodden and miserable settlements to more lively ones. It's more fun when food is scarce and people take what they can get." She answered causally and cheerfully.

"You're chest isn't moving." Elina noted; not seeing the tell-tale signs of breathing from the creature's monstrous second maw. "Are you one of those things Jericho is always going on about? An eldritch horror from beyond the manor?" She asked, more of a demand than a question.

The ivory-skinned creature nodded once. "I was human too, but that was a long time ago. Now, I'm a servant to the hungry, an enemy of hunger, and an eternal student of the culinary arts. My form has changed, but my mind has not." She answered.

The grave robber stared at her for several seconds, a look of calm resolve on her, and then spoke. "And yet you killed a virago in a matter of seconds." She said, gesturing toward the chapel with a tilt of her head. "That is not something I'd expect from anyone but a few veteran mercenary, and even they wouldn't come out of that so quickly and without a scratch."

"To be honest, I only did that because it attacked my patron." Ebony admitted. "If they had just taken the cauldron, I'd have to hunt it down when I had the time, but otherwise I would have let it and it's pupil go." She added.

"Your patron?" Elina asked.

Ebony nodded. "Chris, the guy in chains with the ragged trousers and the 'A' brand on his head."

"I know who he is, but why is he a patron?" Elina asked.

"Because he agrees to my contract and eats the food I cook, just like you and others." Ebony answered.

Elina looked at her with a skeptic expression on her face. "So, you're going to kill whatever wanders into hamlet when it hurts one of us?" Elina asked, and Ebony began to nod, paused to consider, and then nodded fully. "Who did the pig from this morning kill?" She questioned as she adjusted her position on the gravestone.

"Yes, but that one didn't kill or hurt anyone; it was self-defense." Ebony replied.

Elina's expression remained unchanged, not even a twitch in her eyebrow. "Then why did you kill it?"

Ebony closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them. Nothing changed about them, they were still that yellow and black color, but there was something about that that made Elina's fingers check to make sure the weapon was there.

The smile on her face was causal as she spoke the very simple answer.

"The kitchen's larder was empty, and I needed the meat." Ebony replied. "If it enters my domain, I have the right to kill it and use it however I want, just like they do to all of you."

Elina felt her lungs burning for air and took a sharp breath before closing her eyes to calm herself. She had to remind herself that she did not want to fight the creature before her, that she could not defeat it, and fleeing was not something she could do either based on how fast she had seen it move.

Instead, she tried to get more information. "Your domain?"

Ebony nodded her head once, and her smile and tone turned causal as it was before. "It's just a title that doesn't really mean much. To me and other creatures from other worlds, it means that none of them can enter without my permission, or I kill and cook them or I do something else with them, and vice versa if I go to their domains." She said in answer. "So, will you be teaching me to throw knives here?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Elina let out a sigh, uneasy as she was, and put her head in her hand as she shook her head. "Will you answer a few more questions? I'm not even sure you need my head." She said.

Ebony rolled her head from one side to the other and gestured for her to go on.

"You'll be watching over the hamlet while you're here?" The grave robber asked, and Ebony nodded. "What if you have to leave on an expedition into one of the other areas of the estate?"

It was a good question, but one Ebony had been expecting someone to ask at some point. "I have a business partner of sorts to look after the place for me." She answered.

Elina looked at her skeptically. "And who is that? Chris? Jericho?" She asked.

Ebony shook her head. "If it does the job right, you'll never it was here." She answered.

"As long as none of us die under your watch or your partner's." Elina said, pushing herself from the stone and pulling the pickaxe from her back. "Right now, you'll have to earn my time by helping me dig up a few of these." She said and gestured with a sweep of her hand toward the graves.

Ebony smiled. "Not a problem!" She said and picked herself up off the gravestone and followed Elina's lead, moving from the stones they were using as seats to other, freshly dug and filled, ones.

* * *

"What do you like to eat?"

"Anything edible. Nothing from someone I know."

"Oh, really? Are you sure?"

"Yes... well, as long as it isn't alive as well."

"You have such an air about you, I thought you'd prefer something of higher quality than the others."

"What makes you say that?"

"You have a different way from others. The way you walk and move, you analyze and scan where your surrounding, your use of table manners, and you wear makeup and use lightly scented soaps tell me that you come a different upbring."

"What do you think I am?"

"A highborn, a noble, a lady. With time, I can pin down where you're from. For now, given the distance, I'd say the Olong empire or the Vanscara family."

"Quite the knowledgeable one, aren't you?"

"I've been employed by so many people from so many places, I like to surprise my patrons at times. Normally, it's with a dish, a common one from their hometown or the placement of silverware and dishes on their table."

"And you're asking me now because...?"

"For dinner when everyone gets back. I left most of it slow roasting and baking under the barkeeper's watch, but I'm always open to requests from my patrons. The appetizer, sadly, was ruined."

"You can kill that man if you want, I can't say I care too much for the gods. If you are seeking requests, a decent steak, medium rare, with a thick sauce would be nice for once."

"I'll see what I can do, and the priest doesn't bother me. My knives will be fine, if in need of cleaning, but I will need a new set of armor to cloth myself."

"Do you need to borrow my jacket to hide that mouth of yours?"

"Is it frightening?"

"Do you think anyone would be frightened of it?"

"In this age, most seem to be. I remember a time when acceptance of the unusual was uncommon, but it was not seen as a taint to be destroyed. I could walk around a city naked with only gasps of surprise and fear, but no one tried to kill me."

"Do you think anyone here would be frightened?"

"Are you?"

"I am unsettled by it, but I've seen rotting dogs with patches missing and their insides sagging outside. Then again, you are a first for me."

"Watch me cook some time. I'll ease your worry on my looks and you can worry about what my mystery meat is."

"I'll have to think about that, but go ahead and take my jacket. I can find a set of armor for you, and a replacement set of knives in the meantime."

"You don't have to. I'm waiting for the crowd to clear out, and then I'll get them from the pyre. They clean quickly and easily thanks to their material and my attention to detail."

"Alright, that should do it. You can go now, and I'll teach you some tricks tomorrow."

"Okay! Have fun with your grave robbing. Oh! And look forward to your dinner when you get to the tavern."

* * *

The tavern was, for once in a long time, alive with cheer and merriment as men and women ate from tables of steaming food and tasteful drinks while the cook dashed between legs, under tables, and jumped over patrons to keep the tables full of food and mugs foaming with ale.

Ebony was certainly showing off her agility and speed, but she was not the only one keeping the guests and customers happy. The barkeeper and his waitresses did their part as well, taking orders as people came in, gathering the dishes from the tables, and helping people too drunk or passed out to the side door.

The food being served was, for the most part, already cooked, with just a bit of seasoning and toppings left to take care of. Ebony had taken care of that throughout the day, making sure the food and ingredients were nice and tender so the whole of the hamlet could eat their fill for once.

Or at least those that overlooked what they had saw before.

Ebony tried to keep out of sight, moving quickly and placing platters and dishes on empty tables, but she had a very noticeable head and skin tone to those that were present during the fanatic priest's performance.

Still, she made sure one of the others would see to them and take out some food.

She paused for a moment when she saw Chris, poking his head in through the side door and looking around, trying to move into the tavern without anyone seeing him do so.

Discrimination toward the abnormal was common place in this era of the world, something she understood and could relate with, but not something she would let be as it was.

She moved closer to him, but someone else got to him before her.

"Oi! Barkeep!" One of the patrons began, pointing out the abomination. "One of the beasts got in!"

What followed were a number of other patrons taking note of them and calling out in drunken slurs, some agreeing and some cheering as others complained. The general feel and tone of the tavern did not change that much, but the attention was not something he wanted.

"Roast pig coming out! Beef steaks on their way!" Ebony shouted as she made her way quickly through the maze of legs and toward the kitchen door, catching one of the hired girls by the skirt to get her attention. "It was you that called, play along." She said with a plee.

Thankfully, the young lady nodded. "Okay." She said before turning her attention to the hungry patrons and waving her arm. "Form a line or gather around the counter! I can only carry such a thing so far!"

With that, Ebony moved behind the counter and used it to move toward Chris, where she then lightly whistled to him. "Don't worry Chris, I'm here if you need anything. Just give a howl." She said before moving toward the kitchen door.

The abomination nodded and smiled, whispering a word of thanks before sitting at the end of the corner of the counter, out of the way of the others, and fixed the cloak to cover his head and back.


	12. Chapter 12: Comfort Food

_**Author's Note:** I'll be wrapping this up with a bonus chapter, and then moving into a second part of the fanfic with modded characters. Also, I don't know if I will make Ebony a modded character. I may just repost the basic idea for her, abilities, camping skills, special interactions, and unique yelps and speeches. If I do try my hand at modding her, she will likely be like The Fool modded character.  
_

 _I've never modded a character, but I have been looking into it. I think it would be fun to play with this character._

* * *

It had been a number of days since they departed for their journey into the old courtyard to rid the hamlet of its bug problem, but, when they returned, dragging their bruised and beaten bodies from the stagecoach, they spoke little before locking themselves in their own choice dwellings.

Alexander, befitting of his rank in the church, retired to the Penace Hall, and remained there as he beat the memories from his blood. Wallace and Jericho took to the tavern; the occultist wetting his tongue with ale while the bounty hunter paid off a harem of his personal pick from the brothel.

Dismas, however, went to his office in the mansion and remained there, allowing no one into his room.

The first day, Alexander and Wallace were difficult to talk to, Lord Dismas was impossible to coax more than a few angry words from, and Jericho gave blank stares before the times he was not passed out drunk.

A feeling of uneasy hung in the air, the dread of new horrors unknown taking hold of the people and heroes alike, and those that knew of what to expect had locked themselves away from their fellows.

There was one that did not seem bothered, but, then again, something else was bothering her. Ebony had noticed that the lord of the estate had not eaten all day, despite the meals having been delivered to his door and knock announcing their arrival.

She had tried looking for the servant boy that Dismas employed to clean his office, but, as it seemed, the only information she could gather was that he had fled the hamlet during the afternoon.

" _If you're looking for him, I'd say ask the survivalist. She sets up traps to catch monsters such as you, after all._ " The builder told her.

" **You're not afraid of me?** " Ebony asked. This was one of those that had seen her when that minister had tried to burn her at the stake. She had noticed that most of the people did not seem as frightened of her, but they were still hesitant, if anything.

" _The way my mates and I see it, as long as you're not against us, it doesn't matter so much if you're with us or not. Besides, that meat last night was really tasty. What was it called? You served it off the coals and chopped it up into slices._ " He asked.

" **It was brisket cooked barbarian style. I learned it from a warlord during one of his sieges of a walled city. They had to forgo their grills to make more arrow heads, and so I was introduced to a new part of their culture.** " She answered.

Being an ageless creature of the abyss as she was, Ebony had knowledge from wars long forgotten or unknown. However, that knowledge was focused in the culinary arts rather than warfare... and a few cutting, hacking, and slicing techniques.

The builder rubbed his chin in thought. " _Could you come by later tonight to prepare something like that again? The boss has said we'll be working through the night to finish this here Granary, and the farmers' have offered two of their finest cows for the occasion._ "

This made Ebony smile and her eyes grow wide. " **Tell them not to slaughter them! I'll take of that in time to cook them! I'll only need thirty minutes to cook the meat if you'll have a large fire going for me.** "

" _Will do. What kind of fuel would you recommend?_ " He asked.

" **Charcoal! And hard wood like oak to keep it hot. The meat is treated and seasoned before and after on the embers.** " She explained. " **Have those ready for me, and I'll make sure you and your mates eat like the barbarians after pillaging the great city.** " She added before making her way toward the survivalist's tent overlooking the hamlet.

* * *

She found herself at the cliff-like camp overlooking the rest of the hamlet; the home of the survivalist of the hamlet that taught camping skills to the heroes.

Along the way, and to cut time, she had found that the woman was not as trusting as others.

She was positioned over a vantage point to watch those coming and going, her tent faced toward the pathway leading to her, the cliff allowed for very difficult climbing, and, finally, she came with two bear traps stuck in both her legs.

" **Hello! Survivalist! Are you here?** " She called out, ignoring the minor disturbances around her legs. They did little to hinder her movement, and it did not seem her place to remove someone else's tools of the trade... despite her getting caught in them and moving them.

Her answer came in the form of an arrow in her left breast, the protective having come from inside the tent.

Ebony waved and smiled in greeting to her hidden attacker. " **Hi there! I'm looking for Lord Dismas's-** " a second shot at her, only this one embedded itself in her forehead; right between her eyes.

Her head recoiled back, but then tilted it back down to look at the towns-person.

Her smile was gone, replaced with a frown, and she tilted her head at the figure. " **Is this a bad time? I'm sorry, but I do need to know if you've seen the Lord's runaway servant boy.** " A third arrow hit her in the head, close to the second, and, before she could speak, a fourth lodged itself in her throat.

Ebony smiled and straightened herself. She blinked her eyes, her hands going behind her back, and spoke to the figure inside the tent. " **I did not touch that minister when he ruined my stew and tried to burn me at the stake, nor did I flee until after Chris was in trouble. Are you upset that I've been killing the hamlet's invaders? Do you feel as though you cannot contribute to hamlet by protecting it with your traps?** "

There was silence as she looked into the tent, waiting for a response or another attack, and then the tent opened and the survivalist stepped out. She held her bow at the ready, an arrow notched, and pointed at the Ebony, ready to be drawn and loosed at a moment's notice.

" _Why are you concerned about him?_ " The survivalist questioned.

" **He was the last one in contact with Lord Dismas, and now my contract is not being fulfilled. I want to know what happened, what is happening, and if my contract can be re-instated.** " Ebony answered.

" _You have an agreement with the heir?_ " The huntress asked.

Ebony shook her head. " **I do, but his is not the one I am after at the moment. I am concerned with the one that has left my domain, if he can be persuaded to return, and what drove him away.** "

" _And why is a monster like you concerned with a human?_ "

" **He fed me once. My hope is that he'll do it again, but first he needs to not be dead or being eaten alive by wild dogs that followed me from the Weald.** " Ebony answered.

The survivalist stared at her for a moment. " _Those are yours?_ "

Ebony's smile grew a little and she nodded her head once. " **Humans aren't the only ones I can make contracts with, but they are the ones I prefer.** " She answered. " **So, did you see him?** " She asked again.

* * *

He took a deep breath and gripped his shaking hand as he breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat at his desk, a note on the surface and several crumbled ones in the waste bin beside it. His skin was pale, it felt like it was stretched taut over his body, and his throat was dry with a great thirst.

During their incursion into the courtyard, he had been infect with whatever disease made the former nobles the insectoid, bloodthirsty, and drinking, monsters they are. He and the rest knew this because he had succumbed to the thirst and drank a vial of the tainted blood...

Well, he had drank a vial and a bottle, the latter being a mistake when he had realized it was a fine vintage. He had nearly drank the whole thing before Wallace snatched the bottle away and discovered it was blood.

The bounty hunter had spat out the vile substance in disgust.

The worst part was that he had tried to sneak a second vial, but Wallace, behind him in the line up, had stopped him.

Now, with his will written, he looked to his pistol, loaded with one shot, and waited for his hand to stop shaking.

He was a monster once without realizing it, and he did not want to be a monster again. It was why he had come to the estate, why he accepted the letter to claim his inheritance and fix the mistakes his ancestor had made. He could turn a profit, redeem himself, if only in his eyes, and live out the rest of his days as the lord of this place.

Now, having nearly killed his servant boy, there was no denying that his humanity was slipping away like sand in an open palm.

He felt his hand stop shaking, and so he reached for his pistol, one bullet loaded...

" **Lord Dismas**!"

He jumped with a start when he heard a voice in the room, and then looked up to see the cook, Ebony was her name, approached with a tray of food in her hands.

"What!? You! How did you-!" He began to ask, but found himself silent when the aroma whatever was under the tray's lid seeped out. The scent was delightful, catching him off guard.

" **You've not eaten in nearly two days. So, I brought you a specialty dish.** " She said with a large grin as she partially climbed up the desk to place the tray on its surface. " **I wasn't sure what to get you for a drink, so I over-saturated your food with a special ingredient.** " She informed.

Seduced by the aroma as he was, his mind ticked back to the questions and resolve he had before, and, before she could lift up the lid, he put his hand over hers. "No. Get out of here!" He said as he furiously rose from his seat. "Get out and leave me alone-"

"I **killed three of my patrons to save the one you drove away.** " She interrupted, speaking in a monotone voice as she looked at his hand over hers. " **He's back now, hurt but alive, and I apologize for not realizing your change in taste.** "

He tried to lift her hand off the lid, pry her fingers from the handle without lifting it, but he could not; it was like her fingers were melded into the steel.

" **He said you attacked him, baring fangs like a wolf biting his arm before he hit you with a vase and ran away.** " She said, retelling the memory he did not want to relive.

"Be quiet..." He muttered.

" **No.** " She answered simply. " **You are going to eat so I can feed, and then, when you are sated, we will talk about the difference between human and monster.** "

"You're fired. Get out." He said in a commanding tone.

" **I will make you eat, and then, if you still feel that way, I will go. First, eat, sat the thirst, let me feed.** " Her tone and mannerism did not change, and, by the way she resisted him, he could tell she would not be moved in this.

* * *

" **For the main dish, I've prepared a pig's organ soup, nasher canine organs substituted for the pig's, and the blood used a thickener. Blood sausages and pudding were made from the innards and leftovers.** " Ebony explained, naming the dishes and how she had prepared.

Dismas, after she had lifted the lid, had to keep himself from tearing into the food and shoving it down. Ebony had intervened, grabbing his hands and holding them back before saying, in a stern and commanding tone, " **Savor it** ," and slowly released him.

The food was wonderful. Juicy, flavorful, the meat melting in his mouth, and his thirst being sated with each spoonful or bite of the sausages and pudding.

" **Blood is the main ingredient in these dishes, taking from animals that followed me from the Weald. I fed while we were hunting the hag, they helped keep you and the others safe as you slept, but, when they turned their fangs on the one you chased away, they were no longer patrons in my eyes.** " She spoke as he ate. " **I savaged the good meat, drained their blood, and turned them into ingredients for food; which you're eating now. Don't worry, none of it is tainted or diseased.** "

He barely heard her as he ate, savoring every bite, every spoonful, greedily drank the broth of his soup.

" **I see patrons to feed, crops and meat to prepare, and ingredients and cookery for use. I still think of myself as human, most that look at me call me something like a monster, a demon, or something else, but I only care if other other people are my patrons and if others try to harm them. The act of eating has lost all luster to me, only feeding by feeding others will sate my hunger.** " Her words fell upon death ears; the only thing he heard was the crunching and grinding of the sausages in his mouth.

" **I won't deny that I am a monster by anatomy and abilities, but I am human by mind. I am bound by the contract that makes it possible for me to feed on others that I feed; a monstrous statement to be sure, and yet it does not benefit me unless it benefits others. I could force feed those around me, feed on them as I fed them, but then that would make me the monster they say I look like.** " She continued, and then looked up at him when he sat down his fork and knife.

He put his head in his hands, his complexion as normal, but he was breathing slightly irregularly. "I killed a mother and her child in a wagon. I knew them... I knew they would be traveling... but I had to... I had to..."

" **I serve all kinds of dishes, my lord. Forgive me for this, but I searched you for an idea of what what to make for you.** " Ebony replied. " **She liked mushroom soup, but you enjoyed a thicker brother, and the boy loved pudding; he took care of the chickens so there was the option of him helping to make them.** " She added.

Dismas nodded. "They never knew where I went. I told them I had a job in our neighboring town... I told them I'd be gone for a week, and they said..."

" **People die when they are forgotten, my lord. I can recite the names of every patron I have served, every one of their favorite meals. Their bodies are gone, their lives have expired, but I still have to fight the urge, every second, to prepare a place for them at whatever table I can find. People die, in my opinion, when they are forgotten. I refuse to forget any of them. I refuse to let the ones that have fed me feed the abyss, and so I keep them alive.** "

"They were my life..." He said.

" **The ones I remember vividly are the ones I've killed for breaking their contracts, the ones that turned on my other patrons and hurt them. I'm bond to it, each one of them. Death is brief, but the pain is eternal; only the living hurt.** "

"I'm a monster... I should have turned myself in and died on the noose." He said, tearing up as his voice shook.

" **Why did you run then?** "

"... I was afraid to die..." He muttered.

" **And?** "

"And they deserve to be remembered... even if it is only in a forgotten estate on paintings and busts." He said.

" **There's work to do then, my lord. Feed me, and I will follow you to hell and back. More so, I will ensure your army, if you have one, is fed and strong.** " She said before reaching for and gathering the dishes. " **You're tastes have changed, my lord, but that does not mean you cannot still eat. I'll have provisions made for your diet.** " She added as she walked toward the door, unlocked it, and opened it.

"Wait!" He called, and she stopped and turned to face him. It was at this moment that he saw she was without her armor, exposing the monstrous appearance she had.

A mouth nearly split her half, going down between her shoulders from the front to the back, her breasts like eyes, closed and the lids shut like drawn drapes, and the jaws of the mouth like those of a great maw from a giant beast.

She was a terrifying sight to behold indeed, yet she did not give off the aura of a monster, but of a servant as she smiled and waited patiently for him to speak.

It took him a moment to find his words, and then he spoke. "Is the boy... is Josh alright?" He asked.

Ebony nodded her head. " **He's at the sanitarium now with a cast on his left leg. He's sleeping right now.** " She answered.

He slowly sank into his chair again and dried his tears with the sleeve of his coat. "I see. Thank you." He said.

" **You're welcome, my lord. Would you like me to bring you your breakfast here tomorrow?** " She asked.

There was a moment of thought, and he shook his head. "I will go to tavern in the morning. Thank you."

She bowed, and then left the room, closing the door behind herself as she did and leaving her newly invigorated master to think about the next day.

* * *

He looked back at his pistol, picked the weapon up, and loaded it with bullets before putting it into the holster on his belt.

It was not time for him to die, not until he made some attempt to forgive himself.

He went to the window of his office and moved to open it, finding it locked, he undid the latches and raised it.

As the cool air hit him, realization joined in.

"How did she get in without a sound?"


	13. Chapter 13: Arrangments and Preparations

_**Author's Notes: A bit about Ebony's past, her relationship with the inhuman world, and what's to come.**_

* * *

Preparations.

The most important part of any meal was preparing the ingredients, which took more effort than one might thing.

Cleaning and chopping and dicing were obvious, but steaming, boiling, and baking or broiling some ingredients enhanced the final dish.

Tonight, as she moved toward the Courtyard, such ingredients had to be prepared for a future meal, as well as others gathered for the near future.

As she approached the gate, its keeper rose to greet her for a moment, and then opened the gate without her needing to break her stride.

She walked through the halls of the damned, recalling the days of old when the walls were clean of moss, decorated with portraits and busts of former heirs and nobles, the floors soft and welcoming with woven masterpieces ones would call mere carpets, and the formerly warm guest rooms now turned into makeshift larders and breeding hatcheries.

Things changed, she lived such things often, but that did not mean she was happy with it.

" **Good day, sir.** " She said, pausing for a moment to greet one of the former nobles, or perhaps a servant that was raised to its position by necessity.

The esquire, its maw dripping from its previous meal, returned the greeting with a bow. " _A pleasure as well. Shaw we begin at your mark then?_ " It inquired.

Ebony raised her head, smiled, and shook it no. " **Forgive me, but I am but a servant to another lord, here to speak with the Countess Bethary of the house Dracu. Would you know where I might her?** " She asked.

The esquire raised itself and drew its rapier, pointing the blade's tip an inch from her face. " _The Lady Countess... is above meeting one such as you._ " Before he drew back his face and thrust the blade forward.

Ebony's smile grew, her wide mouth stretching from one end of her head to the other, and felt nothing from the thin but sturdy steel through her head. " **I'm late, but I was given a special dinner request.** " Her hand reached up, the arm stretching to grasp the bloodsucker's wrist, keeping the hand and the weapon within it in place. " **My Lord forbids me from making human dishes, but that does include humanoid.** "

The esquire tried to pull its hand from her, but did not budge within the smaller creature's hand. With its weapon disabled, it turned it its natural one. The esquire's nose grew as its body changed, preparing to extract from the creature before it the life blood within its form.

Ebony did not move, even as that piercing needle sank into her body and it drained the fluid from her body...

A mistake.

Flowing from her body, through the chitin syringe of the bloodsucker's nose, and into its body.

Ebony's 'blood' ate away at the nose like acid, dissolving it and corroding it until it dripped out and onto, and through, the stone-worked floor, and did the same to the body of the esquire that tried to tear itself from her... but, Ebony's other hand on the back of its neck, could not as it was eaten alive from the inside until it dripped out down its front.

Its cries of panic died out, and she released her grip on its wrist, grabbed its blood-stained handkerchief and used the fabric to dap at the blood. " **Aged, but not prime. I suppose Bethary prefers liquid dishes anyway.** " She said to the corpse, and then broke the weapon hand off of the esquire.

* * *

" **The kitchen should be somewhere around here, unless they moved it. Oh! Hey! Manservant!** " Ebony called out, moving toward the, for once, equally sized creature, carrying a blood-filled torso on her back.

The legs and arms were gone, cut off at the shoulders and hips, the head at the base of the neck, and the body empty of all but blood, turned into a chitin-based carrying pack.

The manservant startled at first, but then straightened itself and stood in a dignified manner. " _Good day to you. Would you like help with that? You are the honored guest of the evening, after all._ " It said.

Ebony shook her head. " **Thank you, but no. I am only looking for the kitchen. Can you show me where it is?** " She asked.

The manservant nodded its head. " _Of course! In fact, I will escort you myself, if you will allow it._ "

Ebony smiled. " **That would be lovely, thank you.** "

* * *

She stood over her peers, stature in both height and reputation, as well as thirst and combat prowess. She was the broodmother, and those within where her children, but there were those that came unannounced.

And those invited by show of strength.

Tonight, she expected, as she had since the claim of territory was spoken, a guest of honor would be arriving, or perhaps a returning member to the court would be arriving.

It was difficult to tell which it was given the guest's nature. She also expected to lose a few of the court tonight, but she could always find or make more members, there was no end to the brigands and mercenaries that sought the abandoned riches of the former manor.

As long as it was entertaining in the end, she wasn't concerned with the change in her court. After all, she had eternity to watch the world, and it was fortunate she had met one that could outlive even her.

She had heard of a number of guests coming into the courtyard the previous week, roaming the outskirts of the mire and burning a few of the largest hives in the area. They had killed one of the crocodilians that lurked within the deeper sections, and a few of groundskeepers, but that was more of a distraction from The Thirst that ruled them all.

At least the Baron, Arthur Wildes, had become more active and ceased his games with the esquires, courtesans, and manservants, as well as bothering her with whether or not to expect her at one of the evening plays.

For now, she was eager to see if her expected guest of honor had come tonight, and so it was off to the gate to ask the keeper.

* * *

" **Oh! The kitchen is under used! When was the last time the oven was even lit? The wood has petrified.** " She asked, looking underneath the stone box.

It was more of a bread baking oven, but she could tell it had once been used to roast small birds and choice cuts of meat by the grill plate and slider carved out inside of it.

" _We require only The Blood to sustain us, and any source, even ourselves, will sate our thirsts._ " The manservant informed him. " _If I may, might I have a sample of what you have prepared?_ " It asked, hesitant to act on its need.

Ebony crawled out from the space and looked at the equally small-sized creature. She frowned and shook her head. " **No, I'm sorry. It's not ready.** " She then smiled. " **You might prefer to drink straight from the tap, but I can ensure you that a meal prepared is far better than one from the source.** "

The insectoid humanoid visibly sighed, displeased with the information but nonetheless accepting it. " _Shaw I inform the Lord Baron of your arrival? I am sure he would be pleased to set up a bit of entertainment for you until the Lady Countess comes to greet you._ " It offered.

She considered this. " **The lord baron? Is he someone I know? What is his lordship's name?** "

" _Arthur Wildes, a hunchbacked fellow that has taken it upon himself to recruit and organize the performers into their parts of the plays. They are all quite well done, if a little hasty in parts._ "

She revealed the name. " **I recall the name, but I can't say I am a fan of his methods. His techniques leave much to desire, the portions are not evenly tenderized, and too much time is spent on the presentation.** " She answered. " **If you do call him to me, I would spend too much time instructing him rather than working, and I do not intend to stay the night.** " She informed.

The manservant was quiet for a moment as it looked at her, slightly turning its head in question at her words. " _You are not one for shows then?_ " It asked.

" **My skills and expertise are better suited for the kitchen, and I was very annoyed with the extra work I had to employ whenever that one man sent me the extra meat from his encores.** " She explained. " **If you are one of the original members of the court, you must have noticed the abundance pork dishes and cold cuts. Not that one of the former heirs had must of a moral compass. I was surprised at how many ate out of skulls I laid out around midnight.** "

In a way, her time in the courtyard had been when she could freely practice her craft at with any number of dishes, with only a few exceptions. She was a monster among monsters, and she enjoyed the freedom of it.

However, she had to leave the day after the countess arrived, but, in that time, the two became friends. If not for their separate goals, she would have remained and continued to perfect her recipes, but, finally, she made the choice to leave and expand her mental recipe book.

Had she stayed, she could have cooked the countess and prevented the finding of the heart of darkness, but the whole of the court would likely have killed themselves, prompting her to kill the rest in a protector's rage and eating the bodies, but then she would not be able to return to the estate out of self guilt.

" **I'm sure the Countess will find me when she does. You can leave, unless you have to stay and watch me to make sure I don't walk away with anything.** " Ebony informed.

The manservant gave a polite bow. " _Actually, I do intend to stay in case you need anything._ " He informed. " _Just to be safe._ " He said as his hand reached around for the cleaver on his belt.

* * *

After a walk through the courtyard, taking the long way after speaking with the gate keeper, she made her way toward the kitchen to see if her guest was there.

It seemed another group of guests had arrived through an opening in the walls as the guards and esquires were walking around with weapons drawn and their pets in tow. Some that had seen her walked over to warn her of an invaders that had been killing a small number of the court, the bodies taken but the signs of battle remaining.

She had asked if they knew where this invader might be, and their response was the kitchen.

It seemed her guest had indeed arrived, but others had found her first. Judging by their words, nothing was going to waste, however.

It took a time yet for her to get to the kitchen, no rush for her, after all, and, when she did, was she pleasantly surprised to find it booming with activity once again.

" **Baked spider! Carmeled maggots! Crispy carrion! Butchered chops! Baked esquire head! Skewered, grilled hands and feet!** " The names of dishes were called out and thrown out of the kitchen as others moved in, some returning with dishes and platters of food, but others left in pieces.

The Countess knew the voice, and smiled as she moved into the kitchen, pushing the manservants and esquires and chevaliers that were going to fight.

Inside the kitchen was a humid furnace as the oven burned warm once again, water boiled in a number of pots, pans sizzled with strips and hunks of meat, and bodies were drained of blood into sacks of skin.

Five manservants, two esquires, and one chevalier had fallen to the chef that now turned its eyes to look at her.

The Countess smiled and greeted the much smaller creature. "Does this mean you will be staying? We're more than welcome to stay." She said. The creature could kill half the court and feed them to the other half, and she would still welcome the creature.

Ebony bowed in greeting, but shook her head when she rose. " **I've made my pact and pledged my services to a mortal master. This is just me asking for a favor.** " She informed.

The Countess raised an eyebrow. "A favor?" She asked, but smiled and shook her head. "Tell me about it as the count dines. It would be a shame for all of your hard work to go to waste."

* * *

The dinner hall was tense for many, but, for others, it was a feast to savor.

Before, Ebony had felt like a monster among monsters. Now, she felt like monster to monsters as she served what had been comrades, pets, and servants to the courtyard residents.

One member of the court, a bloated aberration that gorged itself on the tables of food, taking a few savory bites of each dish before shoving the food down its maw.

Ebony had nearly killed the Viscount twice before she pulled off the beast. The first time, she took its front legs, and it retreated into the other room. The second time...

" **GLUTTONOUS PIG! I'll kill you! Kill you and feed you your own flesh until your stomach bursts!** " She shouted when she saw it's head poking through the door again.

Most would think that gluttons were among Ebony's favored patrons, with how much they ate and would eat, but quite the oppose was the case.

Ebony hated gluttons because they ate too much and took food from others, which meant less patrons she could feed. The ferocity she showed, however, was enough to turn the greatest force of the court, the garden guardian, against her.

Finally, after she was slammed several times by the shield and impaled with the spear was the Viscount able to get away long enough for Ebony to calm down.

The event itself was observed and to the amusement of the Countess and the Baron. The Countess knew to not interfere, watching and waiting until either Ebony calmed down or killed the Viscount, and the Baron laughed and cheered at the performance before him, following at a face distance as the cook nearly killed his fellow member of the court, sticking several knives into its body that were no doubt very painful.

When it was over, the garden guardian keeping Ebony speared into the ground, the Countess moved toward the cook. "I have finished my bloody cocktail, and, if you are finished cooking and serving, I will hear your favor."

Calmed down, but unaffected by the oversized spear piercing in her left breast, and slowly dissolving thanks to her corrosive blood, Ebony held herself up with her feet wrapped around the spear, waiting for it to weaken so she could break it off her body and easily get away from the stone statue.

She smiled at the Countess. " **I want one of the crocodilian for a recipe.** " She said.

The Countess tilted her head. "Really? What kind?"

" **I have an idea for a recipe. If I can substitute honey bees for the current insects in them.** " Ebony replied as she held up one of her four-fingered hands. " **Gooey, honey insides within a crispy shell of scales. Honey flavored lizard meat fresh off the beast itself. I've not done a live dish in awhile, so that could be fun.** " She said and named off as she counted on her fingers, the final, fourth one holding.

"One more?" The Countess asked.

Ebony seemed to debate speaking at the moment, but finally did. " **For another time, you will know.** " She said, and then checked the strength of the spear. Stone took time to eat through, and her lack of struggling did not help (if she did, she'd be before the Countess even showed up), but it was now loose enough for her to break it off. " **Can you call off your guardian?** " She asked.

The Countess chuckled and smiled, raising a hand and the stone guardian removed its hand from the spear, which Ebony broke off.

Her wound sealed and healed quickly even before she landed on the ground.

" **So, can I have one? Actually, I might have to come back for more. Will that be alright?** " Ebony asked.

The Countess considered this, frowning as she did. The crocodilians were few in number and bred rarely from what she knew and seemed to breed and lay eggs before leaving them to fend for themselves. In most cases, members of the court had to find the eggs and care for them to ensure there would always be crocodilians, but they seemed to be very territorial, even against one another.

The boon was that they only cared for their own small marsh ponds, and so they did not get in the way of the court.

"You can have one of them, but you will only get another if you provide catering for a feast for my court and I. The Blood is to be a central ingredient, and you are free to prepare any dish you like so long as its source was not from here; minus this single crocodilian and others you are given." The Countess offered. "Although it was only once, I still remember the taste of that first meal you prepared for me, and I have longed for another since. The one this evening only made my hunger grow, something I have not felt in ages."

For so long she had only known The Thirst for The Blood. Now, she felt a physical hunger stir within her that she had to sate.

" **... I may end up killing that glutton, you know?** " Ebony asked.

The Countess waved off the concern. "I lived before him, I will live after him. Just make sure the servants know when you are finished so they can clean his room."

Ebony smiled and nodded her head. " **Thank you, Lady Countess! I will be more than happy to come and cook for you and others again.** " She said.

"You may call me Bethary. I consider you an equal, a friend even. I hope you see me in a similar light." The Countess said.

* * *

" **There is one other thing I wanted to talk with you about.** "

"Oh? What would that be?"

" **Are any of the couriers alive?** "

"A few still live, as does the court alchemist."

" **Will you have them deliver these letters.** "

...

"What are these places? How do you know of them?"

" **The sky will fall soon, it's why I came back. To preserve the life and well-being of my mortal master, I want to add to the livestock.** "

"A few of these are close, some once used the roads during their slave trade."

" **I see the world full of patrons to feed, livestock to care for and butcher, and crops to harvest and grow. I feel there is a lack of variety, and so I want to add a few more to it.** "

"Always feeding others, never feeding yourself."

" **There wouldn't be anything left if I ate my fill. At least in this estate.** "

"I'll have my couriers run these letters at once. Is there anything else before you leave with your new ingredient?"

" **Can Eliza come with me?** "

"The Thirst has spread too far at this point. Even killing me will not remove it from her."

" **My mortal master is infected with the curse. I need someone to watch him while I'm away.** "

"Oh? I could have it spread to-"

" **I will kill them if they enter my domain; you know that. If you want to infect them all, do so when they venture out.** "

"Very well. I will inform Eliza. She'll be sent to the Heart's minion tomorrow."

" **Thank you. I should be going now. Breakfast is almost ready.** "

"Until you return. I hope you will stay."


End file.
